I don't get it..What's the point of buying

them so call "low ball" graded coins?

 

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I don't understand it either. I also don't understand a pursuit of a registry set of the lowest graded coins, AND spending premiums to get the worst. Seems like bored collectors to me.

 

In truth, it's a practice which only seems to have genuine "justification" among Morgan and Peace Dollars. Some of those are genuine rarities in low grade because so many were melted and so many of those remaining survived in Treasury vaults in Mint State.

Morgan specialists being the seekers of varieties they are, eventually it was realized that collecting them in low grade could be pretty darn difficult, and a new specialty was born. There are, I think, three Morgans not yet known in P01 and the top Registry set (full date/MM set) has 23 members which are unique at P01.

Wouldn't you like a really, really tough collecting goal that was at the same time cheaper than any other way of collecting the issue?

 

They really do that? I just figured the poor married coin collector with kids had to figure out how to keep the wife happy while at least trying to keep his hobby alive.

 

I think becuase it is so rare for a coin to achieve so much wear before being pulled from change, most especally if it has natural color. After all the more ware that is on a coin (that is not from cleaning). the more that people used the coin, so thus it tells some part of so many peoples story in their day to day life a long time ago. I persionally do not do this, but i think that people do it basically because it is a much mroe tangable touch to the history of people from a time from so long ago.

 

Although there is now a big market for lesser grade classic (earlier) U.S. Commemorative Coins. Most of these were saved right from the get go in MS condition with a lot less seeing actual wear. They are sometimes commanding very high premiums over MS coins. I would not collect them this way, preferring MS blast white coins but there is quite a market going on for the used ones now.

 

There are people who have saved pet rocks. They can be of any size, shape, weight, substance or origin. When someone collects rocks, he needs to sell the idea to another to do the same. When demand is there, it becomes valuable. (Just substitute worn coins in lieu of rocks and you have the exact winning formula).

 

I think there are a lot of narrow minds posting in this thread. First off, I do not collect lowball coins, so I am not their spokesman.

But let's put it this way. 80% + percent of the 84CC mintage was found in the Treasury hoard. How rare would it be to find an 84CC in PO1 unblemished? Pretty dang rare.

But I see it like this. People that collect coins do it how they see fit. I collect coins in VF/XF Even coins that are so damn common in MS. I just prefer circulated coins. Some people collect them down to the last detail to make it identifiable. We all march to our own beat. Accept it, even if you don't agree with it.

 

Tater, there are some people here who think I have a narrow mind just because I disagree with them on some things. I'm with you!

How have you been, my friend?

Chris

 

The first thought that comes to my mind... wouldn't people just simulate the wear? You can't undo wear and make a worn coin MS, but you can wear it down and then leave it on a window sill in the sun for a year and tone it a bit. If PO-1 coins become so popular, wouldn't the market just start getting flooded with intentionally and recently worn coins? I've read people here talking about keeping pocket coins in order to wear them down to the lowest possible grade.

 

I was working on a Walking Liberty grading set the other day and had a very worn coin that I thought was pushing the P01 range. I went to PCGS Photograde and found that their pictures only went down to AG03. Searching the web I found what I was looking for, a guy had the ONE and ONLY slabbed PCGS P01 Walker in existence. At the time of his post I think there was 86 slabbed FR02 in the POP reports. I'm sure he could get enough for his "unique" coin to buy a small herd of nice shiny MS66 1881S Morgan's. Plus, he probably picked up is P01 for melt. Mine is a FR02.

 

'Pocket Pieces,' even if you start in low grades can take many years or decades. I have been carrying around three Morgans in my pocket just for the fun of it for about 5 years. They started as 8 or 10's and probably have dropped a grade, maybe two. Also there is a guy on Ebay that always has extreme low ball Morgans and they all look like they were put in a rock grinder or something. Very unnatural looking with rounded rims, just doesn't look right.

 

Is it a registry set thing?

 

I think SuperDave answered that above, 3rd post.

 

I was thinking more like putting a bunch of coins in a bag with many other coins, and swashing them back and forth. Would be annoying to do manually, but a resourceful person can easily build a machine to do it. That would not take long and the wear would look legitimate.
I think that this may be an area that is best if it stays limited. Once it becomes economically viable to fake, it would not be hard to do so in convincing fashion.

 

It's a lot of fun. Knowing nothing about coins I had bought beat up Morgan's as bullion only to find a couple of legit P01's years later. I've got a few coins that definitely tell a story that I will try to post pics of soon.

 

Low grade IKE's are a lot tougher to find than Low Grade Morgans.

But......that's just my opinion.

As for collecting a Low Ball Registry Set?

That's primarily for collectors that need some "incentive" for starting another seemingly easy yet impossible set. No sooner do you post up a G3 coin than some smarty pants comes along with a PO-01!

A-r-r-g!

I pretty much gave up when I figured that folks were able to figure out a method to successfully "enhance" the wear on their coins as way too many began showing up in a relatively short period of time. Especially with the IKE's since CnClad coins are as hard as freaking rocks. You see, the wear process amounts to hits, which raise metal, which get rubbed off either by coming in contact with other coins or other materials.

The "KEY" is to eliminate the rim since the "rim" protects the devices.

I put those Low Ball coins right up there with the toners. Way too easy to figure out how to make them.

 

I think folks just do it for the fun of it.

 

Well, if your trying to please your wife by doing that, next she'll have a dress on you too ....

 

I don't get it. What's the point of buying all those so call "perfect" MS 69 and 70 coins that never have nor ever will serve the express purpose of coinage?

I don't collect at either extreme, (if forced to one side or the other I would tend toward lowball collecting) but that doesn't mean other people shouldn't.