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Message:: [QUOTE="illini420, post: 692967, member: 19423"]About a year ago, I posted my experience in building a high grade type set over on the CU Forum and a comment posted on my ANA show report last month made me realize that some of you folks on Coin Talk may find my experience interesting and informative. August 2008 When I got back into coin collecting after about 10 years or so, I became fascinated by the 7070 type sets that have been posted by the members of the forum. Just getting back into collecting after some time off, I figured the completion of one of these type sets would be fun and allow me to learn a little bit on each type, the goal of which would be to figure out which ones I like the most and help me direct my future collecting. I also liked the way the album looked when complete and didn’t care for slabs much, having never owned a professional graded coin at the time I decided to start my set. I had originally planned to complete my 7070 type set (including the gold page) using only proof coins cracked from original proof sets for the moderns and/or PCGS and NGC graded coins from AU55-MS70 so that I could better learn how to grade coins (and to minimize overpaying on the more expensive ones because of my lack of grading ability). At first, I had a blast filling the easy holes by breaking open modern proof sets and cutting up older proof sets as I was able to fill over a dozen spots in no time at all. I also had no second thoughts on cracking many $50-$500 dollar slabbed coins over the next few months as I tackled many of the moderately easy spots in the album.  However, around six to eight months into my 7070 type set project, I had around half of the 7070 album holes filled, and probably another 20 or so coins valued from $300-$4000 each still in the slabs. I even made a couple of extra pages to hold the inserts from the cracked slabs <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Here’s some pictures of my album at that time:<img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page1.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page3.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page4.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page5.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page6.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> And a couple pictures of the extra pages I added for the slab inserts:<img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page7.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page9.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/page8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> The coins I had cracked and put in the album up to that time were: 1863 Indian Head Cent PCGS MS641909 VDB Lincoln Cent NGC MS64RD1943-S Lincoln Cent PCGS MS661980-S Lincoln Cent Proof 1883 Shield Nickel NGC MS641883 Liberty Nickel No Cents NGC MS641883 Liberty Nickel w/ Cents PCGS MS651913-D Buffalo Nickel Type 1 PCGS MS651931-S Buffalo Nickel NGC MS651980-S Jefferson Nickel Proof1945-S Jefferson Nickel PCGS MS66 1891-S Seated Dime NGC MS621892 Barber Dime PCGS MS641916 Mercury Dime PCGS MS66FB1957 Roosevelt Dime Proof1996-W Roosevelt Dime PCGS MS66FB 1892 Barber Quarter PCGS AU551917 Standing Liberty Quarter Type 1 PCGS AU58FH1928-D Standing Liberty Quarter NGC MS621956 Washington Quarter Proof1980-S Washington Quarter Proof 1831 Bust Half Dollar NGC AU581892 Barber Half Dollar PCGS MS621916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar PCGS MS621957 Franklin Half Dollar Proof1964 Kennedy Half Dollar Proof 1980-S Kennedy Half Dollar Proof 1892 Columbian Half Dollar NGC MS641992-S Columbian Half Dollar Proof1918 Lincoln Half Dollar PCGS MS641926-S Oregon Half Dollar PCGS MS65 1878 8TF Morgan Dollar PCGS MS631927 Peace Dollar NGC MS631971-S Ike Dollar Silver Proof 1976-S Silver Bicentennial Proof Set1980-S Susan B. Anthony Dollar Proof2003-S Sacagawea Dollar Proof2003-S Illinois State Quarter Silver Proof1992 Columbus Dollar Proof2000 Silver Eagle Proof 1854 Gold Dollar NGC MS611909 $2.5 Indian NGC AU581909 $5 Indian NGC AU581898 $10 Liberty PCGS MS621909 $10 Indian NGC MS611909 $20 St. Gaudens NGC AU58 And here are some photos of the slabs that were pending a date with my slab smasher!!<img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/slabs1.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/slabs2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/slabs3.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm111/illini420/slabs4.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> It was right about that point, that I had serious second thoughts about whether I was really going to finish this project.  On the one hand, I really love the album and to that point had learned a great deal about coin types I hardly knew existed before I began.  However, of the coins I cracked out of slabs and put in the album, I already knew that I wanted to upgrade a few of them for one reason or another. I soon learned that in order to sell the coins that I wanted to upgrade, I was going to need to get them reslabbed in order to get full retail value back out of them, otherwise, I was facing substantial losses in trying to sell a raw coin. Additionally, although I had already cracked many $500 or so coins, I really became uncomfortable with the thought of cracking out coins worth several thousand dollars each, knowing that if I wasn’t careful in cracking the slab, or if I were to catch one of the coins the wrong way with the plastic slides of the album it could be serious trouble to the coin and its value. In particular, I wasn’t comfortable cracking my $2500+ AU Classic Head Cent or the $1000+ MS64 Flying Eagle, AU55 Spiked Chin Half Cent as well as a few of the other higher value coins. Moreover, I feared that if I completed the album (at my projected cost of $30k-$40k) my family would never get anywhere close to that amount if something happened to me and they sold the coins. However, if the coins had still been in slabs they would be more likely to sell for a fair price. With that in mind, and knowing that there was a good chance that I would likely want to upgrade most of the coins someday, I called it quits and decided that I was done cracking the slabs for the Dansco album!!! The decision was made somewhat easier as I had learned about the PCGS and NGC registry sets by that time and had also learned that the Dansco type set doesn’t include many of the types and isn’t truly a complete U.S. type set.  So, at that point I posted my experience above on the CU Forum and solicited the opinions of my fellow collectors which were extremely beneficial in helping me through my cracker’s remorse. Ultimately, I decided to abandon the Dansco 7070 U.S. Type Set altogether and to start a new set or two in the PCGS and NGC Registry (this is when I started my 1909 Mint Set as I already had several of the coins already and it’s sort of a mini type set). At the time I decided to send several of the cracked out coins back in for grading/slabbing and hope that I didn’t already cause any of them damage by cracking and putting them in the album. Also had many folks on the CU Forum who were interested in buying some of the raw and slabbed coins I had so that helped me out as well.  September 2009 A year later, and I still have my 7070 album, but it looks significantly different. The relatively inexpensive proof coins are still there as well as the entire modern page. Made several submissions of the cracked out coins (mostly with my free grading certificates when I joined both NGC and PCGS), sold several others and even have a couple of the coins still raw as reminders of my experience and the lessons I learned. Here’s a brief breakdown of what happened to the cracked out coins listed above. Sold raw: 1883 Shield Nickel NGC MS64 – sold for small loss, new owner said it graded PCGS MS63 1913-D Buffalo Nickel Type 1 PCGS MS65 – sold for small loss 1892 Barber Quarter PCGS AU55 – sold about what I paid 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter Type 1 PCGS AU58FH – sold for about what I paid 1926-S Oregon Half Dollar PCGS MS65 – sold for small loss  Re-Slabbed and sold most of these: 1863 Indian Head Cent PCGS MS64 – reslabbed as NGC MS64 and sold for small loss 1883 Liberty Nickel No Cents NGC MS64 – reslabbed as NGC MS64 and sold for small loss 1883 Liberty Nickel w/ Cents PCGS MS65 – reslabbed as NGC MS66!!! Traded this one for a substantial profit 1931-S Buffalo Nickel NGC MS65 – reslabbed as NGC MS65 and sold for about what I paid 1891-S Seated Dime NGC MS62 – reslabbed as NGC MS62 and sold for small loss 1928-D Standing Liberty Quarter NGC MS62 – reslabbed as NGC MS62 and sold for small loss 1831 Bust Half Dollar NGC AU58 – reslabbed as NGC AU55 and still haven’t sold it, will likely take a small loss 1892 Barber Half Dollar PCGS MS62 – reslabbed as PCGS MS62 and sold for small gain 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar PCGS MS62 – reslabbed as NGC MS62 and sold for about what I paid 1918 Lincoln Half Dollar PCGS MS64 – reslabbed as NGC MS64 and sold for small loss 1878 8TF Morgan Dollar PCGS MS63 – reslabbed as NGC MS64 and sold for decent profit 1927 Peace Dollar NGC MS63 – reslabbed as NGC MS64 and sold for decent profit 1854 Gold Dollar NGC MS61 – reslabbed as PCGS AU58 and sold for small loss 1909 $2.5 Indian NGC AU58 – reslabbed as PCGS AU55 and in my 1909 set 1909 $5 Indian NGC AU58 – reslabbed as PCGS AU50 and in my 1909 set 1898 $10 Liberty PCGS MS62 – reslabbed as PCGS Genuine w/ Damage and sold for small loss 1909 $10 Indian NGC MS61 – reslabbed as PCGS MS60 and in my 1909 set 1909 $20 St. Gaudens NGC AU58 – reslabbed as PCGS AU55 and in my 1909 set  Still in Dansco 7070 Album: 1909 VDB Lincoln Cent NGC MS64RD1943-S Lincoln Cent PCGS MS661980-S Lincoln Cent Proof1980-S Jefferson Nickel Proof1945-S Jefferson Nickel PCGS MS661957 Roosevelt Dime Proof1996-W Roosevelt Dime PCGS MS66FB1956 Washington Quarter Proof1980-S Washington Quarter Proof1957 Franklin Half Dollar Proof1964 Kennedy Half Dollar Proof 1980-S Kennedy Half Dollar Proof1992-S Columbian Half Dollar Proof1971-S Ike Dollar Silver Proof1976-S Silver Bicentennial Proof Set1980-S Susan B. Anthony Dollar Proof2003-S Sacagawea Dollar Proof2003-S Illinois State Quarter Silver Proof1992 Columbus Dollar Proof2000 Silver Eagle Proof  Sitting in 2x2 holders: 1892 Barber Dime PCGS MS641916 Mercury Dime PCGS MS66FB1892 Columbian Half Dollar NGC MS64 I also donated the extra slab insert pages that I made for the set to coin charity auction where they received several bids and were sold for around $20 which all went to charity.  Conclusion Overall, I think I learned my lesson and I do foresee the need to crack coins out of slabs ever again. The grading companies are just too inconsistent and the grading fees and shipping expenses make shooting for upgrades cost prohibitive. I have learned to appreciate my coins in their slabs and have had a great time listing my coins on the set registries. In all, I did lose some money buying the slabbed coins, cracking them out then resubmitting them, but the gains from a couple of the sales and upgrades helped minimize the sting of the losses and downgrades. I was very lucky in that or the pain of the experience could have been much much worse.  The best thing that came from attempting the 7070 U.S. type set was that I was exposed to several series of coins that I’ve never owned and learned to love certain types like the Indian Gold and the Barber Type. That, combined with my interest in Indian Cents and Lincoln Cents led me to my current 1909 Mint Set which I have almost completed. I hope it has been worthwhile to share my thoughts here (in the hope that perhaps some others new to coin collecting or just getting back into it will take my experience into consideration when they start out and resist the urge to crack out higher graded coins until you really know what you’re doing).  Anyone else out there have similar stories of “cracker’s remorse?” If so, how did you handle it?[/QUOTE]

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