Like last year, I'm back with some "duds" for the year. While there were some good additions and some fun coins that found new homes, there were also the stuff that missed the mark. Now these were still solid coins (for the most part) but each had a reason for being a "dud" for me. We start with a colorful silver eagle. There is debate on most silver eagles about them being artificial or natural but regardless, it looked nice to my eye. The issue here was paying up for the coin and then deciding to sell it once I wanted something else in the collection. For a while no one valued it the same as me. It sat around on eBay and the forums for most of the year. Finally, I was fortunate to break even on it at a coin show where one dealer liked it after seeing it in hand. A similar story is the case with this Morgan. It has an interesting fire/ice split toning pattern and solid colors. I picked it up at a show a few years ago for a strong price. I found out that price was a bit on the high side as it also sat around online throughout most of this year. It also sold at the same show as the Eagle above to a dealer that was buying up NGC star toned coins for a project (breakeven on this one-which I was very happy with given the higher price and the fact it was not moving). One more factor for this coin is that the in hand look is better than the photo, so that added to the difficulty of selling online.
At the end of the day we all have our moments of weakness and pursue something we quickly regret; on the other hand it sometimes goes the other way and you get something better or cheaper than you at first realize. I am talking about my 2025 coins in a different thread. If I put my coins together from the entire year there are 2 coins that stand out in this regard. I was desperate (and coin budget poor) at Birthday time last year so I ended up with an 1854 Arrows dime i would normally not consider. Then again, it is a standing rule in our family. I get a coin for my Birthday or go without any gift. I'll take it and keep it. I had something happen this year that has never happened before. I will sometimes place low level bids on sites such as Heritage just so I will be more aware of a specific coin I haven't decided on but don't want to have post auction regret. In this case I placed a $100 dollar bid on a coin when my intention had been to only bid $10 dollars. I am still baffled how this actually happened but have made changes to my bidding methods to prevent this happening again. Guess what? The bid turned out to be a spot on winning bid. It is just about exactly what the coin is worth when all fees and factors are considered. I will post the actual coin in my retrospect later on but even in a details holder (I only have 2 such coins in my collection),; this is a superior coin with fantastic luster & strike. I will talk more about my 1907-O barber dime later on. James
