You know how misery loves company? Well, it seems that every numismatist has a story about some large sum of money they blew (lost) in a single coin deal. The loss could be because you bought a piece of junk and didn't know it or sold something wrong. My biggest ouch, which I'm still kicking myself over has to do with the 1995-W Proof SAE. I bought the 1995 Gold Proof Set knowing that the free SAE was worth the price. Prior to moving to Colorado in January of 1997, I sold the set turning a $200 profit on the entire set. I thought that perhaps the run-up on the set was temporary and I didn't mind having the extra cash freed up from the set for a potential house downpayment. If I had just managed to wait about another year, I would have seen the set soar for the skies. That rush to stupidity has cost me around $2500 in potential profit if I had managed to hold on a bit longer. My wife, who doesn't care much for the whole numismatic thing, also wonders why I sold the set too soon. In hindsight, what I did was simply short-sighted and I should have known better.
I sold my MS67 P and D mint Ikes at $350 - $600 each. OUCH! That was big bucks back then, but now even the commons are $1000+. But, I'd been collecting since they first came out, so my initial cost was somewhat less.
Sold some NCLT stuff for $150, later climbed to $300. I don't really care though, as the spike didn't come until 2 years after I sold, and I spent the money okay, so I ended up fine. Much worse were the two times I sent $40-50 packages out in trade and got nothing in return.
I have been very fortunate and have nothing but good experiences so far. I think this comes from being careful what I buy and who I buy from. I mainly limit myself to buying from 3 dealers who I met years ago and have yet to steer me wrong. Of course I've never sold anything so I myself haven't experienced an actual "ouch" yet. I did feel responsible for causing one though! I had a friend who told me he was very interested in start a coin collection so I asked him to attend a show with me. While I was doing business, he took off on his own to see what looked interesting to him. He wasn't totally green, he had done his homework and knew exactly what to look for and knew what he wanted. When he returned, smiling, he said he had what he wanted and proceeded to hand me the 2x2. Wow, this guy just dished out $1,200 and got himself an 1800 Draped Bust Dollar graded Fine (a very, VERY nice fine I would say). To make this short, he sent it to PCGS to be certified, came back in a body bag marked "altered"! Double ouch!! The look on his face made me want to go and bury myself. Needless to say that was his first and last coin show and last coin purchase.
No Speedy. The dealer never would give him back his money. I think he knew what he had sold and didn't want it back. After that I never saw much of my friend again, I think he sort of blamed me for his bad experience. The last time I saw him, he dropped off a box with 100 rolls of unsearched 1944D circulated lincolns,and told me Merry Christmas.
I don't think I've heard a coin story with such a bad ending before. That's depressing. Go ahead an name names...who's the dealer? By the way, how do you believe the coin was altered...in what way? What value would the coin have today?
You Know Prethen, to this day I still couldn't say how it was altered. We looked it over, and over, and still it looked ok, but we were both pretty inexperienced at that time. I wish I had it today to look it over again! The graders at PCGS sure saw something they didn't like. I don't know if at that time we could have contacted them and found out, should have tried or should have sent it to NGC also. Well, that's a long time ago and and hopefully the last time. As far as the dealer, I'll just say he lives in Indianapolis now. Today that coin in Fine lists for around $1,400 VF jumps up to $2,500. (Now I climb onto the soapbox and throw my fists into the air, and shout) That was a big "Ouch", but time heals and I am so glad this experience didn't change the way I felt about coin collecting. I achieve greater satisfaction and enjoyment from this hobby, meet the greatest people from around the world, and have learned more than I ever expected when I started! Any coin is just a material object, the memories will stay with me forever. I think we all will experience "ouches" along the way, just carry lots of bactine! (the gravedigger has spoken)
Sorry Prethen, but I can't tell you my story. We aren't allowed to use language like I would have to use, in mixed company.
Well I don't have a ouch to tell but I will tell of something I miss-read once....I was new to coins (not too new but I didn't know a lot) and found a item on e-bay a PCGS PF66 1960 Franklin half...well I thought it said MS66 and that listed in the book for a few thousand...I won the coin and got a good deal still as I didn't pay even with shipping over list for a PF66...that is how I got collecting PF66 Franklins...I'm over half way done!!! Speedy
I'm glad to not be the only one that sometimes misreads a coin as Proof when it's really Mint State (or vice versa). I still do that on occassion, but luckily I catch myself before committing to a bid.
Most of us who have been collecting for a long time have horror stories. It's part of the learning process. Forums and the internet will help reduce the mistakes that before had to be learned personally. I learned the hard way back in the 60's and 70's. The best way to avoid getting ripped is KNOWLEDGE. With all the resources available in todays market you have to garner as much information as you can get. All you new collectors, ASK QUESTIONS and get opinions from any one you can. GET THE BOOK BEFOR THE COIN is not just a saying. It is important. Now, since you asked. Here are some of my mistakes from years ago. 1942/1 Dime - Altered, Added 1 1896-S Quarter - Altered, Added S 1901-S Quarter - Altered, Added S 1913-S Quarter - Altered, Added S 1909-S VDB Cent- Altered, Added VDB 1885-S Dime- Altered, Added S All of these coins were purchased from 2 Dealers from CoinAge back in the 60's and 70's. Both dealers were found guilty of mail fraud and one served two years in prison. Needless to say, I did not get any of my money back. I did spend a lot of time with the Federal mail inspectors filling out forms and giving depositions. All of the above coins were bid on in mail auctions with just discriptions and no pictures. When I got them, I knew they were bad, but of course, I got no return priveledges. It is next to impossible to recover any money from this type of fraud. All you can do is mark it up to a learning expreience and move on. Lesson Learned.... I still have all of the above examples and take them out every few years as reminders of my stupidity. Gary
I bought 3 $20 gold saints in raw state--1 whizzed severely, and 2 cleaned--At least they were authentice At the time I had no idea what whizzed or cleaning was, so as stated above I taught myself--I'm still learning-Out of the 3, I could not with clear conscious sell any of them, altho years later I could of dumped them on ebay on some unsuspecting turkey and made a considerable amount of money, but I did not. Instead I bought 3 bezels, (spent more money) inserted all 3 into them. Sold and stated condition, the 1908NM on ebay as jewelry, and the 1924 at the FUN show this year as to a dealer selling "jewelry coins"--Now I did still manage to cover my initial costs including the bezels, but obviously I did not make or have the desired results I wanted when I initially purchased these on ebay BTW--The 3rd saint I kept, the 1915S (gorgeous coin) not as severely cleaned as the other 2, defintely a high end ms65 speciment (but cleaned) I put into diamond cut bezel over sized the loop and bought me a $2k chain for it--It is the highlight around my neck let me tell ya-- The other item I still loath my purchase is a MS69 1995 SAE in a PCGS case for $125--I bought this mistake couple of years ago when these PCGS slabbed coins were being sold for a premium before the botton fell out--Still grit my teeth on that stupidity--Sorta reinforeced this, buy the coin not the slab saying we hear all the time--Still tho, it is in a PCGS case---whooptie-doo--
