Featured Cracker’s Remorse – Second Thoughts on the Dansco 7070 U.S. Type Set

Well - I could do that. But these albums looks really cool with a complete set with real coins in them. Just something cool to see all at once side by side.

 

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Yeah, but at least I would have had a guarantee to fall back on.

In the end the coin was less than $100, so it's not a huge loss, but I do regret cracking that one out.

 

Do those guarantee's cover milk spotting? I would think the TPGs would have some way to get around that as it is a result of the manufacturing of the coin and thus there is no way to predict what coin will spot.

 

Yes. From what I understand (entirely second hand), PCGS has been taking care of customers whose SAEs are developing milk spots.

 

Wow, that's good to hear.

 

Bingo. That's how I collect. I have a complete set of Washington quarters...they're all in the same safety deposit box...but they're in three different boxes. Some came from my grandma's collection. Some belonged to my wife's uncle. And I bought the rest. I prefer to keep all of my grandma's stuff together, and so on. That way I know where the coins came from. To each his own though.

 

klunky:
You can put them together, just make up an accurate check list.

Or buy a program, like: Coin elite.

 

Yea, but that would take a lot of time. All of the coins are raw and many are duplicates of what I have. Too bad it can't be as easy as the currency.

 

I'm just not seeing that. The coins don't match in condition, texture, or any other way. A full album of problem-free, well matched VF's would be far more attractive (to me, of course) than one where cheap modern proofs compete with a red IHC, AU gold pieces, and a minty-fresh shield nickel.
This reminds me of the VG-F Jefferson nickel sets with the one 'eyesore' BU 1950-D.

That said, the coins are beautiful by themselves - Just not together.

 

I guess when I started working on this set I thought it was just really cool to be able to see them all at once right in front of you without have to look through a few boxes of slabs one at a time.

However, now that I have since learned about the Registry sets and have learned to take decent photographs of my collection I can sort of have that same feeling by keeping the coins in the slabs safe in the bank vault and be able to view them on my computer at any time. Not exactly the same, but it works for me when I need a quick fix Additionally, I have a few of the Eagle brand slab albums that hold 9 slabs to a page that work pretty well when I want to carry around and show off part of my collection. Not sure the "see slab" insert would work for me, but if that works for you then :thumb:

Thanks again for all the comments

 

I have no remorse, because they were smaller prices to pay for a good lesson. When I started collecting I was sure I was going to bust out any slab and put In Danscos. I did a couple. A few things changed my mind.

1. As you stated, I have learned to take decent photographs and slabs can be buffed nicely.

2. My first crack out I scratched the coin with plastic slide in my Dansco, and now it is also changing color in a few spots.

Any coin over $80 that is in a slab stays in a slab. Most coins under $100 that I buy are raw anyway so no worries there.

 

Actually, I don't own any coins in folders that are worth more than 50 bucks, (my 21-D merc in G and a 22-D cent), and I own one slabbed coin, a smooth edge Washington $ struck through grease both sides and die clash, but if I win the powerball, watch out.

 

I completed an XF+ 20th century type set, housed in a white Capital holder. For this, I wound up buying a 1911 AU-55 Liberty nickel in a SEGS, 1938-D MS-64 Buffalo in NGC, 1914 AU-58 Barber Dime in a PCGS, 1916 EF-45 Barber quarter in a SEGS, 1930 AU-55 SLQ (with light gold tone around the rims) in ANACS, and 1912-D EF-45 Barber half in ANACS -- all eventual crack outs.

Let me tell you, I went through the same round of self-doubt that some of you did -- and these are $50-200 coins I'm talking about; nothing like the ones worth several hundred to over $2,500 apiece as discussed here.

In the end, I don't at all regret cracking them out; I still have the grading slips, and the set looks absolutely beautiful in its safe, Capital Plastics home. Though I can understand why the even the allure of a completed album would make some think twice before breaking out the pliers and cracking a $4,000 coin from its certified home.

 

Mike, I personally do not have a problem breaking out coins or buying them raw for my own personal set. But I'm in the "either all slab" OR "all raw" camp. When I first started putting my Indian and Lincoln sets together, they were all raw, which is how I preferred to have my collection. I've never been a "slab snob" and I just kept them in 2x2 cardboards with grade and purchase information noted on each 2x2, and put them side by side in those 20-coin plastic notebook pages. Most of them were colorfully toned, and I really liked being able to look at them close up all together.

Then a few years ago, I found a really pretty toned Indian in a slab that I just fell in love with and knew would fit nicely with my toned coins, so I bought it even though it was in a slab. Then a few months later I happened upon another really pretty one in an NGC holder, and then shortly after that I found another one.

Well, that did it! I didn't like not having all my coins side by side. So now I am a "slab snob" not because I prefer them certified by a TPG, but because I just want my collection to be consistent, either raw or slabbed. So I began sending in some of my raw coins to be certified, and buying slabbed Indians and Lincolns, or if I found a pretty raw one, now I send it in to be slabbed.

Like Mike, I keep them in those plastic 9-slab pages in a notebook, so I can still see them side by side. And even better, as Mike mentioned, I am having Todd photograph all my coins and I post them on my website so I can share them with everyone. I also have the photos on my laptop as well as my Blackberry so I can look at them any time I want. It also helps to have all the pictures on my Blackberry in case I come across one at a show that I may not have, then I can make sure it's a date I need; or if I find one I think might be better than one I have, I can compare it.

Buying raw toned coins as I do can be tricky because, not surprising, the grading services do not agree on what is artificial and what is natural toning, and they are even more cautious these days. I am not afraid to buy raw toned coins, but when I find one, I have to use my judgment as to whether a grading service will certify it in order to keep my set consistent, or just keep it raw, or just sell it. Luckily, I have come across some gorgeously toned copper already in holders - as many of you here have seen!

 

Most of your "sold for small loss" can probably be attributed to "buying at retail; selling at wholesale", particularly if the person who bought it is a dealer.

I learned my "crack out" lesson when I changed my mind and decided to have the coins re-slabbed.
I probably came close to a push money-wise between coins that re-graded lower vs. coins that re-graded higher.
But my REAL loss was the coins that came back body bagged for which replacements had to be purchased (plus the cost of re-slabbing the good coins).
I'm very confident that it was NOT because I mishandled the coins.
I believe strongly that it was because the standards at the TPGs had changed (probably for the better, but...).

LESSON LEARNED: Take your time in deciding whether to crack out or not.
Future-think as best you can.

 

Acutally a few of the "sold for small loss" coins I was able to sell for the same price I paid, but I actually realized a loss because of having to pay the grading fees. But yes, others I just paid too much for in the first place when I first started and I thought the PCGS Price Guide was a 100% accurate guide to buy coins based on

Thanks for sharing your experience too, I did feel good that the coins that I sent back for grading didn't get bodybagged. :thumb:

 

I agree with you about wanting my collection to be consistent. Right now pretty much everything I have is slabbed and that is mostly a function of the type of coins I'm currently collecting. And even though I try to fight it, it bugs me a little bit even when the coins in my set aren't in the same type of slab... my 1908-S IHC grading set is mostly in PCGS holders, but I also have 2 of them in NGC holders and I'm trying really hard to not let that bother me and just keep them as is. I tell myself over and over that I collect coins and not plastic holders But deep down I know that the set would just look better to me somehow if they were all in matching holders :rolling:

Pretty much the same thing for my 1909 Mint Set, most were already in PCGS holders but I really liked my 1909-S Half Dollar that was in an NGC MS65 holder. But I wanted the set to be consistent so I sent it in for crossover not to long ago and it downgraded to a PCGS MS64, but even with the downgrade the set just looks cleaner to me, even though some would just call that crazy :goofer:

 

Bumped for a fellow type set collector

 

Sorry for resurrecting a 2 month old topic, but over the last month, I have changed my stance a little bit. When it comes down to buying the 3 key date coins I need to finish my Peace album, I now feel I will have trouble smashing the slab. So question is, does anyone know if someone makes pages that hold NGC or PCGS slabs, with these pages designed to fit in a Dansco album? That would be truly awesome.