What’s the longest anyone has ever spent looking for a very specific coin?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by MasterVampire, Oct 25, 2020.

  1. MasterVampire

    MasterVampire Active Member

    I’m just curious how long you’d wait until a specific coin you want becomes available to buy.
     
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  3. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    well. I've wanted a gold eagle since my grandfather showed me one when I was about 10 and just starting to collect coins (thanks to the above mentioned grandfather)... Well as you may have seen I bought one just the other day (1909 $2.5) and it should arrive monday or tuesday so that make it about 42 years :D
     
  4. Malleus Maleficarum

    Malleus Maleficarum Well-Known Member

    When I was a kid, I always wanted a Draped Bust Silver Dollar. I remember the price of one in the Red Book. It was $100.00. Might as well been a million. $100.00 seemed like a lot of money to a kid in the early 70's.

    That was over 40 years ago. Now I have 2. More to come when I finish my Trade Dollar type set.
     
  5. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    I'm 64. I'm still waiting for that double eagle that I saw pictured in that old Red Book coin guide when I was about 8 years old and first started collecting coins.
     
  6. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Well, this year I bought a Pillar dollar, a coin I always wanted since I was a kid & saw it in the Red Book in the late 1980s.

    So I guess 33 years later I now have one & my inner child collector is still happy.

    [​IMG]
    Ferdinand VI (1747 - 1759)
    Mexico AR 8 Reales
    O: FERDND·VI·D·G·HISPAN·ET IND·REX M F 8, Crowned arms shield flanked by value and initials.
    R: VTRAQUE VNUM; Mo 1756 MoCrowned hemispheres flanked by crowned pillars.
    27g
    39mm
    KM#104.2

    Ex. Harlan J Berk Buy or Bid Sale #212, July 2020
     
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  7. QuintupleSovereign

    QuintupleSovereign Well-Known Member

    I think I waited about two years for a (relatively) inexpensive 1915-S $10 eagle to finally appear on Ebay. A very under-appreciated date, I think.
     
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  8. Inspector43

    Inspector43 Celebrating 75 Years Active Collecting Supporter

    As a youngster I always wanted to find a gold coin in circulation. Of course that could never happen. But, I always wanted one. At about 65 years old I broke down and bought one. I have one and that is all I needed.
     
  9. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    About a couple of decades to find an example of a mint state non-clipped Edward III gold noble.
     
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  10. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    I'm still waiting. It's not that the coins I'd like to have aren't out there, it's just that I can't afford them.
     
  11. capthank

    capthank Well-Known Member

    Still looking for the LWC 1955 doubled die in the wild.
     
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  12. buckeye73

    buckeye73 Well-Known Member

    In about 1991, I began collecting large cents. My goal was to eventually own a 1793 chain cent. In about 1996, a LCS had a 1793 chain periods (S-4). I traded several nice coins (including two bust dollars and a quantity of proof sets with cash) for that coin. I have never been disappointed with that deal to this day.
     
  13. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    It took me over twenty-five years to purchase my first 1909 S-VDB Lincoln. My patience paid off, I now have five complete sets of 1909 - 1940's Dansco Albums. Our granddaughters will reap the profit of our entire collection. We do encourage them to continue the Hobby and often allow them access to peak their interest. Time will tell, thanks for the post.
     
  14. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    You and me both!!!!!!
     
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  15. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I had been after a gem MS AV 4 Dukaten from Ferdinand V of Austria-Hungarian Empire for 20 years. All FDC examples hammered for 11K+ in European auctions. Finally, one came up in a Spink/USA event. I put down a proxy bid of 5KUS/ ended up winning it for $4500:D f5d2ab03ca76e995b53be1c4294754c4 (1).jpg
     
  16. AussieCollector

    AussieCollector Moderator Moderator

    It's been three years since I first started looking for a Stavraton (1/2 or 1/4 Hyperpyron) under Theodore II for the right price/quality.
     
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  17. Bob Evancho

    Bob Evancho Well-Known Member

    I spent 50 years looking through small local coin shows for an 1878 triple cotton blossom 7/8 tailfeather. 12 years ago I was at a coin show near Binghamton NY and a dealer had an uncirculated 1878 Morgan for sale. He priced the coin at $65 and said for me, I could have it for $50. I was happy to give him the $50. He does not do varieties. I had it encapsulated. It came back MS 61, 1878 VAM 44A. It resides in my best Morgan dollar collection. Be patient, your most wanted coin is out there somewhere. Happy coin collecting.
     
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  18. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    So on your page, @Malleus Maleficarum, about the chronology, and your age at the time. ...Heck, $100 was a lot to Anybody I ever knew....
     
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  19. robp

    robp Well-Known Member

    More than happy to wait up to a generation or longer for something that is unique, nearly so, or excessively rare in top grade. Leaving aside life-long collectors who will keep things for ever, many collectors get into the hobby in mid-age when family has grown up and they have surplus funds. They will probably sell up some time into their retirement, so working on the basis that only one person can have that unique coin, I have to wait my turn if I want to own it.
     
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  20. capthank

    capthank Well-Known Member

    Exactly that is why I collect.
     
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  21. Chip Kirkpatrick

    Chip Kirkpatrick Well-Known Member

    I help a lot of people get started in metal detecting and a few years ago I helped one fellow in particular. Helped him get the equipment and learn how to use it properly as well as the rules and laws.
    A week later he sent me pictures of the SECOND item he had found. 1876 $20 Double Eagle.
    everytime we talk I tell him that I hate him. 712DBFCE-5D52-4DE1-AE63-30D09FD566F7.jpeg ABF08080-4022-44F7-B7EE-5FA9DCFD55E8.jpeg
     
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