What I know is that they are all pre-searched! Unless they are "salting" the lots to add some good stuff in, it is exceptionally unlikely that you will find any key/semi-key coins in those lots. They have already been removed.
I lucked out with the one time I bought an "unsearch lot". It was exactly as advertised and I even pulled a nice 1909 VBD (no S though ) And the silver included was nice. Now that I know more about collecting, I count my blessings and won't buy anything like it again. Its a rare....rare....REALLY rare day to get anything of value from the "unsearched lots" off ebay.
Hi and welcome to the forum poof. In the extremely unlikely event that the EBay seller hasn't searched the lot him/herself, you can just bet that someone else did.
Your best shot at getting a real unsearched lot is from a roll stuck in the back corner of an old dusty bank vault for the past 40 years.
Ask yourself a simple question..., if you were selling a lot of coins on ebay, would you search them first??
I'll be honest - most of those guys selling them either bought lots directly off someone else on Ebay and are reselling them for a higher price or they're taking a bunch of rolls of 1940's and 1950's wheaties, measuring out 1/2 pound of them, and sending it off to you. HOWEVER, I have had a very good experience with a seller whose SN is (I think) SunCoins.... I bought 4 lots from him to get a good sampling of what he had to offer, and I got EXCEPTIONAL coins from ALL FOUR BAGS, including an PF68 1963 Franklin Half, an XF 1908 "V" nickel, and a 1931-S cent in F-VF. This seller guarantees $2.00 face value or more in 90% silver coins, and in my four bags I did get $2.05, $2.15, $3.65, and $2.05. I was very pleased, and I would recommend this seller for unsearched lot-buying. ~AJ
Before I got back into the hobby a few years ago, I bought one "unsearched" lot from a major ebay seller. The value of the coins therein proved to be less than what I paid for the lot. Several months ago, I took another chance on another lot that all but guaranteed that the coins in the lot would be roughly equal in value to what I paid (around $80-90 IIRC). Plus, the seller was throwing in some goodies (like a half-eagle) with a handful of the lots. Based on excellent feedback, I bid and got one of the lots. While there was nothing outstanding in the lot, I did get some pretty decent coins, including a couple of really nice Peace dollars and silver proofs (Washington Quarters, pre 1965). I ended up sorting stuff out and doing a rough valuation of the worth of the coins. Lo and behold, the values added up to about what I paid. And I enjoyed searching to see what I got. Having said that, I'm done with "unsearched" lots.
A great way to find real Unsearched lots is to look at ones that are guys that have too many coins. I found some guy SN estates-by-weight i got1 pound of unsearched coins from someone who inherited like a literal ton. I got some nice key-dates. I also got some barber coins and 2 or 3 indian heads.
Same problem still exists JVG814....whoever is selling the coin lots may not have searched them, but stockpiles of wheaties or any other coin don't just magically appear. Someone sorted them which makes them technically "searched". Now, if your hedging against someone elses ignorance (as to what they have) then go for it.
Ah the myth of the unsearched lot... You know poof, you hit the nail on the head, it is fun to look through them - you can be sure that you will get less in value for what you purchased against what you paid. Otherwise, why would anyone sell them in that method? What you are paying for is a chance to look through what people used to pull out of their common pocket change - and that just doesn't happen anymore, except once in a blue moon. If that experience is worth the price, after you usually factor in some obnoxious shipping fee, I say that's great... but people should be aware that you are bound to end up with the same stuff you could purchase out of bargain bins for half the price or less, at coin shows and local shops.
I've been tempted to go after an unsearched lot on eBay, but the cynic in me says they are probably anything but unsearched. I love the photos used of the coins dumped out all over someone's living room floor, covering 500 sqft, 4" deep. Some of the feedback the sellers get is quite complimentary too. Question: Let's say for several years I sort out all of the 1981 and older memorial cents from my pocket change into mint bags. I don't look for anything unusual, rare, or in especially good condition, and nothing is pulled- it all goes into a bag. I just check dates to make sure they are older than 1982. One day I decide to sell and offer them as unsearched lots of say 1lb. each on eBay. Do you guys consider these to be truly unsearched or not?
ummmm.....i think that would be considered unsearched. Though probably no one would want to buy coins that were in any condition as early as 1982-1965. Now if you had done that in 1940 and saved all the coins you got without looking at them and collecting a huge number of coins never searched by you. Then they are all sold as one lot at an estate sale to an ebayer seller and the ebay seller doesn't look through them then that would be unsearched to me that i would want to buy. I think a good way to find unsearched coins is whenever a seller sells something like a cigar box of coins and he doesn't sell coins, and if the cigar box is included.
In my opinion they are searched . Well , in my opinion they are searched , I know that someone might still find some nice coins , etc. , but you searched them , part of the question was '' I just check dates to make sure they are older than 1982 '' , you still looked at the coins , so is definately SEARCHED .
As long as no coins were kept by you and they all went into the collection, then i would consider them unsearched. Who cares if someone looked at the coins as they threw them into a jar, or if they didn't look at them-the same coins are still in the jar.
I would guess it's 95 percent certain they have been searched, and the "unsearched" notice is only a ploy. Even so, it's fun to look through them. I used to spend $25 a whack on "unsearched" grab bags. Usually got my money's worth, and it was fun.
