Have you purchased any coins sight unseen?

If there's a listing with no photo or poor photos, or maybe the photos are spectacular or not that bad, but the coin is heavily toned or "dirty", and it's a rare coin or may simply appear to be a rare variety, would you take a chance at buying it? Maybe you'd take a swing at it if it's within a certain $ amount (maybe fair market value up to its condition, valued at the regular, non-rare variety type so as to "break even"?)? Or, are you more risk averse and see these things as "too good to be true"?

Do you have any examples of coins purchased sight unseen, and how has it turned out for you - for better or for worse?

Thanks in advance!

 

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I purchased a 1970's French Piefort boxed set for $170 sight unseen once, on eBay maybe 5-6 years ago. Re-sold for $750. Let that be a lesson for people to get up to date with the tech of the times.
That old-school "mail order" mentality doesn't work. There is no reason for not having pictures. People will not bid into the fair range without them.

 

Turned out great! Bonus points for me for getting this twice tonight...

Described as a lot of Late Roman Bronze coins. Purchased from someone here with a stellar reputation.

I also bought the bulk of a military trade token collection from a seller all sight unseen. Don't have pictures of them all but here's a couple because I love them:

 

Ive made serveral purchases on ebay seeing alright pictures and then hoping they are something big when you get them in hand. Most commonly 1998, 1999, and 2000 off center lincolns. With these im hoping to find a wide AM variety. The mix of an error and variety on one coin would be a great pick. Most pics are hard to see the AM so its kinda always a gamble.

The other is high grade philly wheats from 1909 to 1916. Someday maybe i will get lucky and get a matte proof example for uncirculated money. Its not unheard of on ebay.

 

98-2000 Lincoln wheats? Bet those are pricey!

 

Oops lol. I fixed it. i was thinking of too many things.

 

Yes, but not very often. I bought a couple common date Peace Dollars from APMEX in advertised BU condition. They were bought in 2013 when silver was much higher. Are they BU, yep. Are they worth grading? Nope. I'll make "small" purchases like this from time to time.

If a coin is very important to me for my collection, I definitely need to see good quality photos or view in-hand before making a buying decision. I will not buy sight unseen.

 

I've done it before and won sometimes, other times not so much. It's a gamble that can pay off sometimes but if it doesn't I never spend stupid money and I accept what I end up with as it was my choice to take the risk. I do however tend to avoid those listings that feature possible key dates like a 1916 mercury dime that out of the sellers 100 listings is the only one that has a blurry reverse picture, etc. I see a a lot of those types of listings at least on Ebay and also seen people falling for them and bidding.

 

To answer your original question: No. I do not buy sight unseen.

And as far as decent pictures go, if a seller won't spend what little is necessary to provide a decent photo, I move on.

 

Once and only once 10-12 years ago--returned it and got ALL my $$ back plus my return postage costs. The note was nice and had it not been for an "undisclosed" corner fold and a couple of pinholes I would have kept it. Since then--ZERO.

 

Bought an 1864 Indian Head Cent on ebay in "very uncirculated" condition with absolutely horrible pictures. They were so blurry, you could barely see that it was a IHC. I could tell there was a bit of detail on the coin and there was a bit of red in the protected areas. Paid about $35 for it. It ended up being the 64L variety and graded MS63BN. It was sold for around $500 last year.

 

If it's got a CAC sticker then why not. I mean, that's what they're there for, right?

 

Pictures--regardless of quality--have absolutely nothing to do with whether a purchase is "sight unseen". A seller can have the greatest photos in existence but if a buyer must commit to a purchase prior to seeing the coin in person then it is a "sight unseen" purchase. If, on the other hand, one has the ability to physically examine the coin prior to committing to a final purchase then one is purchasing "sight seen' with no photos present at all, let alone bad ones.

For example, a Heritage auction specifically states that no returns are allowed. This--if one does not examine the lot prior to bidding--is a sight unseen purchase despite Heritage's pictures. On the other hand, any Ebay purchase where the buyer has the ability to return if unsatisfied is sight seen since he can personally examine the piece prior to deciding whether or not to keep it.

Edit to add: In answer to the OP's question, yes I have often purchased sight unseen. My results have been mixed, but usually better than worse.

 

I always assume BU means "beat up" or "butt ugly."

 

I've never bought coins truly sight unseen; like @okbustchaser, I consider any purchase with an approval period to be "sight seen." But, I have bought from dealers who are clearly better numismatists than photographers.

 

Although it is rare, I have seen coins with CAC stickers that look like they were driven down the first fairway by Tiger Woods.

 

Me too, but I do trust APMEX. I just wanted some decent (non-cull) inexpensive Peace Dollars that I could have around. Most of my collection is in TPG holders.

 

I understand your definition of sight unseen. I was not interpreting it that way.

Going by your definition, then yes, most of my collection was bought sight unseen! But I interpreted it as either "stock photos" or no photos at all.

 

I've typically found CAC coins to be nice technically, but they don't always make the grade on eye appeal. Maybe 5-10% of CAC coins I've seen are coins I wouldn't ever have in my collection. That's a lot better than non-CAC slabbed coins or raw coins.

 

True all the way! But I can't imagine a good seller having a CAC coin and not wanting to provide a decent picture of it.