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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BostonCoins, post: 1829664, member: 34720&quot;]I want to thank everyone who has posted on this thread. I didn&#039;t realize there would be as many responses to this as there has been.</p><p><br /></p><p>After reading everyone&#039;s response (yes... even ones without punctuation .. lol), I think there have been some very good points made, and great questions offered. Here is my two cents, as the originator of this thread.</p><p><br /></p><p>1. To purchase graded, or raw coins..... which is better?</p><p>In my own collecting, I have usually avoided collecting graded coins for stupidly simple reasons. I love to handle the coins (gently... I don&#039;t mean licking them or anything like that!). I put my coins in simple 2x2 holders and into my binders for easy organization. The graded coins and their holders don&#039;t easily fit into my binders.</p><p>I suppose I could say my other reason for not collecting Certified coins is simply because in many cases, I think that those &#039;toned&#039; coins and such are plain ugly! I see those Walkers... Franklins... Roosies and such posted, and they have toning on them that make me shiver in disgust. The coins appear to be completely stained, and their eye appeal for MY tastes is completely ruined.</p><p>That&#039;s not to say that I haven&#039;t seen some certified ones that made me WOW.... Early Chain cents, for example. They don&#039;t have the toning on them, but WOW... some of them are breath taking. Sadly, they are worth more than my house..... so... I&#039;ll pass! lol</p><p><br /></p><p>2. Overpaying for coins... Upgrading coins.... Fake coins....</p><p>One poster referred to overpaying for coins if they are not certified. I think the poster makes a good point. To me personally, I think it&#039;s up to the BUYER to do research on the coin before making any decision. I always check out a few sites for prices, and even check e-bay to see what the going prices are. Sure.. I&#039;m not a certified expert on grading coins, but I can take an educated guess and check the prices accordingly. Now, if I (or someone like me) ends up over paying for a coin.... well... would I ever know? I mean, if I&#039;m not planning on selling the coins, how would I ever know? However, playing devil&#039;s advocate, if I ever DID realize I paid too much... well... Too bad on me. I believe in personal responsibility (sadly lacking in today&#039;s society).</p><p><br /></p><p>Fake coins... SUCK. Plain and simple. When it comes to coins commonly faked, this is one of the few times that I agree that certified coins are the only way to go. Recently, I was looking to purchase a Twenty Cent coin. After seeing coin after coin... I began to realize that for a low end common year, the average cost is about $100.00. For a low end collector like me, that&#039;s a lot of money for one coin.... and where it&#039;s commonly faked... it would SUCK to spend that kind of money on something not genuine. So.. in cases like this, I think graded coins are the way to go. However.. I&#039;ve also been reading posts where even the Certified Holders are now being faked..... Ughhh..</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally... trading up coins. I think this is just a common sense thing really. Doesn&#039;t matter if you collect raw coins, or certified ones. I think any person that has... let&#039;s use an 1800 LC as an example.... Let&#039;s say they purchased it on the cheap, and it&#039;s in a AG - G condition. The person later has many other large cents (duplicates), the person decides to liquidate them in order to get money for a new coin. The person then finds a better example of that 1800 LC (VG - F). Why would you NOT upgrade if the opportunity arose? Now... I agree with some of the posts where this could really get you in a sticky situation.... If you weren&#039;t at least a LITTLE careful on your original purchase... you may lose money when selling the lower grade coin... This just leads me back to what I said previously... ALL collectors should do a SMALL bit of research before buying ANY coins.... Raw OR certified...</p><p><br /></p><p>Darn.... Sorry to be long winded... I have lots more to write... but i&#039;ll leave it at that for now.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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