Well I missed another good deal last week. I went to a coin auction last thursday and didn't have enough time to do proper research. One item up for bids was a 1955 proof set in the box not the flatpack, and It was unopened. I did a quick price guide check and found that boxes went cheaper than flatpacks (wrong?). I did a quick ebay check and saw some flatpacks that had sold in the $120 range. I figured if I could pick it up for $100 I would get a good deal. The set sold for $140 and I thought the guy paid to much, but oh well. I had been watching an aucion on ebay with a 55 box set that was to be completed monday night I believe. Well I checked my-ebay tuesday morning and to my horror the set sold for $249.00. Dang!!:goof: It kind of reminds me of the ASE anniversary set I did not get. Lesson learned....study,study,study. On a side note, I did end up with some worn out morgans for about 2 cents under bullion value!
right lesson learnt sell the Morgans back and use it to buy better coins unless you wan to tie up cash in worn out coins according to a recent pcgs article you can make a lot of money off worn out coins as well
I don't trust auctions and I really don't trust ebay. At auctions around here there are to many people there to spike the auction. In other words they bid to raise the anti. If they accidently win, the item goes up again in a week or so. I know people on ebay that do similar things. Also, they have people that spike thier ratings with many good results. Be happy with what you almost didn't win.
vipergts2 Lesson #1: Don't regret your decision, if I review all of my 'missed opportunities' from the past three years alone, it would drive me crazy; 2) You made the correct decision based upon the facts of the moment; 3) don't use eBay as a bidding guide-- they are frequently too high; 4) current trends on a '55 proof set (flat) $175 & up; 5) Unopened boxes: PUNT! It was very popular years ago to purchase 'unopened boxes' of proof sets-- this is until someone finally opened one of them and found a box of washers, instead of the coins. So, you learned a big lesson, you picked a price and stuck to it. Far better than getting into a bidding frenzy and overpaying. Sit back, take a breath and relax. Ya done the right thing.
Can you point me to that PCGS article about "worn out coins". Based on my own research, it seems that for maximum return, lower-grade coins tend to do well (often better than MS coins). One thing though is that the price of silver will affect them more since the intrinsic metal value is a bigger part of the total. Thanks, Wally
With 52 sets for sale on eBay, there will be more opportunities. I saw one set that was already put into a display holder sitting at $89.95 + free shipping with no bids...the dime appeared to have some decent cameo contrast on the obverse and reverse...not a great pic though.
I like going to local auctions, but some times they drive me crazy. The last few have had a couple of dealers bidding. Could be good or bad, they have a bigger bankroll, but it gives me a little heads up on how much and what to bid on. I did pretty good about sticking to my bid limits I set for myself, so I didn't waste much money.
Be extremely leary of buying "unopened" box sets. Personally, I never would. You need to look at the coins in these sets because of the staple. The staple that holds the cellophane slips shut - they were prone to rusting and causing some very unsightly toning on the coins. Look at the coins or pass.
Neither most auctions or Ebay show the true value of the coins. A really big auction with very dispersed items might show how much people are generally willing to pay for things.
Agcollector: Yes it was as a matter of fact. Small world. I do have a question though, your location says Maine, how did you hear about an auction in Marshalltown?
I moved from Grinnell to Maine last summer, and went to two or three Van Metre auctions when I lived there. I have gotten some good deals there on junk silver and Canadian coins but it seems like there are far too many dealers or people with deep pockets to get something like gold or silver dollars for much below the going rate. I hope they have a few more proof sets for you in the future!
You bring up an interesting point. I have mint sealed bags of all of the Westward Ho mint nickels, several P & D sets of the westward ho mint rolls in sealed boxes and now I have the Presedential $ coins, 1 mint roll of each P & D still sealed in the original mint box. I am hoping, should I decide to sell, that since they are all sealed, will this create the possibility of errors or am I just as well off operning the sealed boxes, easier to store? I too am very leery of ebay but so far I have been happy with everything I have won on ubid.com.
I only went to one, at the fairgrounds, and I picked up some silver Washington quarters for $1.50 each, if memory serves. I didn't see many coin auctions in Grinnell when I was there, but then again I only lived there two years. Were there better auctions you went to?
Iv'e been to two there. The first had a collection of highly pollished indian head cents and silver Washington quarters. The second had a decent selection of Morgan dollars, but other bidders wanted them way worse than me.
