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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;CLV1, post: 2149048, member: 73310&quot;]Good afternoon CT!</p><p><br /></p><p>As I mentioned in my brief introduction, when I first started collecting coins I did what most new to the hobby do, BUY COINS! The problem with this is that I did not take the time to study the hobby and definitely didn&#039;t listen to the advice from the old timers to &quot;Buy books instead of coins.&quot; I frequented a ton of different auctions on the internet and often used the CDN and Redbook to find a price that I felt comfortable paying for a coin and didn&#039;t exceed that price. I did not have an understanding of the differences between the TPG&#039;s and what some refer to as &quot;Basement Graders.&quot; I also did not have a niche that I focused on and tended to purchase coins just because they were priced fairly, without having an understanding of what constitutes the difference between an AU and a MS coin in the series. <b>Take note young collectors and do not follow in my path!</b></p><p><br /></p><p>I told you all of the background to set the stage for my first major coin purchase, I say major because of the price which was around $1,100. I was researching an auctions listing before it started and found in the first few coins a 1890-O Morgan graded MS-66 by SEGS. I researched the coin in the Redbook and the CDN and found both prices well over $5K for the grade. This was the first time I had ever seen a coin in a SEGS holder, so I researched the company as well. I went to their website and read their guarantee that accompanied all of their slabbed coins, which was extremely comforting as a buyer. None the less, there was no way I had anywhere close to the amounts listed in the Redbook or the CDN that I could possibly win the coin at an auction. The coin itself was gorgeous and had excellent eye appeal, keep in mind that I did not understand the differences between a MS-60 and a MS-66. Fast forward a little bit to when the coin was being auctioned, I placed a bid of around $1K thinking there was no way that I would win the coin and low and behold I did! I was super excited and nervous at the same time because I just spent that much money on the coin and thought it was too good to be true. I waited impatiently the next few days until it arrived in the mail and I was extremely happy with the coin&#039;s eye appeal when it arrived. </p><p><br /></p><p>As I began to collect more and more I found that I really enjoyed copper coins and focused my collecting on small cents. By this time I had a better understanding of the TPGs and realized that SEGS was not in the &quot;top three.&quot; I decided that I would sell the Morgan and use that money to purchase small cents and I decided to shop it around to my LCSs. The first store I took it into the worker immediately scoffed at the coin because of the holder and did not even make an offer. Keep in mind that I had roughly $1,100 into the coin and the CDN price was well over $5K. I was pretty disappointed and thought for sure that the LCS may have just had something against SEGS. Long story short, I took the Morgan to roughly 15-20 different shops and not a single person would offer me anything close to the amount I had in the coin because they kept saying SEGS was known for over-grading coins. I researched in-depth through all kinds of different resources and compared photographs of coins graded MS-66 from the major companies to the coin I had in my possession. Some of the coins had a stronger strike, but some did not. I came to my own conclusion (opinion) that the coin was over graded by a point or two, but grading is always subjective.</p><p><br /></p><p>After I exhausted all of my options to sell the coin on my own, I sent the coin back to SEGS to have it re-graded and exercise the warranty if the coin graded anything less than the original MS-66. I typed out a letter to Mr. Briggs and outlined everything that I covered here and waited to here my fate. After a few weeks, I contacted SEGS and asked for an update on the coin and was informed that Mr. Briggs himself examined all of the coins that are sent in for re-grade and that he was scheduled to come to town in the next few days. I was patient and gave it another week to call and ask for another update. I was told Mr. Briggs wanted to discuss the coin with me and that he would give me a call. I explained that to my work schedule, I was unable to have my phone with me during most days and they were nice enough to give me his contact information. I got ahold of Mr. Briggs and never once was he rude or did he question the reasons why I thought the coin was over graded, his only concern was making he situation right. Mr. Briggs and I came up with a number that was fair on both ends, he even compensated me for the hassle the coin had caused. I did not start collecting coins as an investment or to make money, I simply wanted to break even on the coin so I could reinvest it into different coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are a few lessons to be learned from my experience. First, take the time to find out what you like collecting and learn as much as you can about the coins <b>BEFORE </b>you purchase. Second, buy the coin and not the label; I can hear the old timers laughing while repeating this already. Lastly, if you follow the other two lessons I learned, you will never be in the situation that I was in. All TPG’s make mistakes at some point and if you take the time to learn the basics of grading then you might just be able to capitalize on one of their mistakes.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have purchased multiple other coins in SEGS holders, the difference now is that I understand the coins I purchase and feel knowledgeable enough to assign my own grades before purchasing. Am I 100% right about them, absolutely not! But I am happy with my educated decisions and will continue to learn as I learn more about the hobby.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bottom line is that Mr. Briggs was extremely helpful and understanding and I just wanted to give him a public thank you. I have read on here in the past about people bashing the different grading companies, but if you follow the same lessons I learned then you should find yourself in an alright situation no matter what holder the coin is in.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry for the novel, just wanted to put the information out there in hopes some of the young collectors can learn from my mistakes.</p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH]412138[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]412139[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]412140[/ATTACH][ATTACH]412141[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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