I am always looking for upgrades. It's not really the grade I am interested in, but rather eye appeal and toning. E.g. today's upgrade - right picture Show us your upgrades!
I don't. I feel like once the hole is filled, I can stop looking at the Type. There are still plenty of holes to fill, and it relieves the burden of looking at so many coins in so many places all the time. But, I feel like at some point I may have to circle back on a few series that my current choice is less than ideal, so I very well could be looking at upgrades in the future. Certainly, if something amazing falls in my lap, I would probably upgrade a particular coin. BTW, nice coins.
I actually prefer the one you are upgrading from, especially the reverse, but that is just my preference. I am a hoarder. I don't upgrade, I simply add.
I knew some of you would prefer the left coin due to its original looks but I really like toned coins for my type collection.
Great question. Since finishing my Morgans a few months ago the debate is whether to start a new series or to continue upgrading some of the dollars. Wish there was an easy, correct answer! My current decision subject to change at any moment: I have a 12 piece gold typeset and with gold dipping so low I've decided to start upgrading those to MS63 and higher. I like the look of both your coins, perhaps you expand the typeset to include a white and another toned. Any excuse to expand of course.
I'm so close to completion that I can't afford the ones I'm missing. That gets me thinking about upgrades. Haven't started yet but it's going through my mind.
It depends on the type set. For my US types I try to pick up an example with good eye appeal at the highest grade I can afford. I very infrequently upgrade, but there are so many nice examples it's easy to get the right coin to begin with. With my world types I have upgraded many times. For those it's tough to find nice examples and the prices are fairly reasonable. I think once I get a 64 in gold or 65 in any other metal I'm happy with it for my world sets. For 18th century I'm happy with ChAU.
How about a reverse upgrade...... I was curious what this 1859 cent would grade so it got popped out of the 7070 album. Now there is an empty hole in the 7070. 1859 was a good year for new cents. Here is a first-year Canadian:
Knowing it's a solid 64, you could now break the holder up and put the cent back into the album, right? Btw I love the design of the '59 IHC and it's on top of my "want list"!
Nope, not going to happen (and of course you knew that). PCGS retail price guide shows an MS64 at about $2,000. Inside the slab, my heirs might quickly realize $1,000 to $1,500. Inside the 7070, my heirs might be lucky to get AU money. No plans to liquidate (or die) anytime soon. Over the years my attitude towards slabs has evolved. I've kind-of decided that anything in a slab stays in the slab & anything raw stays raw. When someone goes to sell my collection, they should probably assess the raw & slabbed coins at that time.
I am going that direction myself. I try to go out of my way to not buy slabbed coins, but the older I get the more I am likely to leave them alone if they are already in there, especially higher value or harder to authenticate coins.
