New to Coin Collecting and very confused

Hey all,

I'm new to this little venture of coin collecting and I decided to purchase a mix lot on ebay. I paid 350 and received 50 coins. Now, according to online guide PCGS some of them are worth 1500, 3000, 5000 dollars. But only a few are graded by PGCS. I don't really know if I'm sitting on a gold mine or just a few dollars, well at least I have a 1/5 oz gold coin so thats worth around 100 dollars.:goofer: Any advice or help anyone can provide would be helpful. Also I was thinking of doing some more bidding, but now I'm not sure. Thanks in advance!

Andy

 

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Hi Andy and welcome to the forum. Anyone here will tell you that the values in the PCGS guide are on the high side. Without knowing what every coin in your collection is and their grades it'll be hard for anyone to tell you if you've gotten a good deal or not but at the same time if your coins have appreciated as much as you say they have by PCGS standards then I'd say you're pretty safe with any of the current price guides, just not to that extent. This is only my opinion, others may vary slightly.

 

One rule to remember when bidding on Ebay....if it seems too good to be true, you should probably walk away. 99% of the sellers on Ebay know exactly what they're selling, even though most claim to have no knowledge of coins. They won't sell for a penny less than what it's worth....usually it's way over-priced.

Know the hobby before you gamble with online auction sites. I've seen too many people get burned that way...and I speak from experience.
Guy~

 

this is where I am confused

Thanks for your reply. Here is my confusion.

all the coins are graded but if PGCS is high whom should I look at. I can also list on here the coins I have, there grades and who graded them if that might help in understanding where I am coming from.

 

Welcome aboard,Andy.

Aidan.

 

please do, then we can be in a position to help you. NGC, PCGS, are "top tier companies" "ANACS and ICG are "second tier" there are several third tiers such as PCI SEGS ACG etc., then there are 4th tier, self slabbers.

 

when you list the coins, be sure to list the grades and the names of the companies that graded them. it will give us a better idea of what you received. Hopefully, you didn't get taken for too much.

 

Don't forget that SGS is a self-slabber for Aboncom.There's a racket going on for coins done up in their slabs as well.

Aidan.

 

Yes, please list some of these coins, their grades, and what company slabbed them, as this might make a huge difference in their value.

 

here are a few of the lot:

unccoins.com is the website for unc (the grader and slabber I guess)

1963 1c MS67RD
1976-S 25c PF70DC
1957-D 1c MS67RD
1968-D 10c MS68
2005-D 5c MS66
1974 1.00 MS66
1976-S 10c PF69DC
1944 10c AU58
1964 25c MS67

PNCS Grading:
2002-D 5c MS68 mississippi

thats a small taste of the lot

 

Andy,we have never heard of www.unccoins.com until now.I'm glad that none of your coins are in SGS slabs.

Aidan.

 

first welcome

now, one thing you will find is a pet peeve of coin collectors is people who decide to invest in coins then they buy some coins and then they try to research what the bought with the hope that they made money on their buy. I'm not saying this to criticize, but to let you know that you went about it thw wrong way. which isn't the end of the world, hopefully we can help you with your next purchase.

What is most likely is that your seller sold you a bunch of coins that are overgraded by one (or more) of the well known self slabbers (people who overgrade their own coins and slab them themselves) with a few PCGS coins thrown in so that he can quote the PCGS price guide (which overvalues coins as a marketing tactic, as you've already been told).

If that is true you likely will lose money on the coins you bought, but at least it was a relatively inexpensive lesson, others have been burned far worse.

Like any major purchase do your homework first. Learn to grade, and then have a strategy for what you want to purchase and stay away from random groups of coins, as they are rarely worth what you pay.

Ask questions here, we have a great group oof people who are more than happy to help you out.

Again welcome, I hope to see you around some more.

and have fun!

 

Thanks.... and I could take that backhanded, BUT I'm not :smile. I understand, but honestly, I never thought that I would ever do this and then this popped up and thought alright, lets give it a go. Hey live and learn.

My only problem is, I don't know if this is something I would want to continue with, since honestly I think I got a bill of goods and why enter into something that just isnt worth it. But then, just like a rookie in baseball, you gotta take your lumps.

You guys have been great and I look forward to talking with you all about these coins and the other 40 looming on my desk :smile

 

Probably did... unfortunately the best reason to start coin collecting is because it interests you. If you started for any other reason, chances are that you will not enjoy it in the long run.

The people here are awesome, and friendly and have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to coins, but the best advice I ever heard here was to buy the book before the coin.

In other words... with the exception of plain old luck, knowledge is the only thing that will bring you opportunities to profit from buying and selling goods. People on eBay don't typically lose money on what they sell, and they typically came across it through honest means. So, if they were to sell to people for less as an act of charity, I don't think they'd be doing it on eBay.

If you decide to join our little community... welcome, we're glad to have you! If you decide that coin collecting just isn't interesting enough to be fun when it isn't profitable, then I wish you well.

 

Yeah, what everyone else said...especially CaveTroll. Don't get discouraged though. I would advise you to do more research before your next large purchase. And, actually, we don't really have enough info on your last purchase yet, to tell you if you did well or not.

 

For openers, welcome Andy!

You did not get any bargain, but I doubt that you got taken too badly. First of all, someone else bid $5 less than you did. On another day someone might bid $5 more than you did. Secondly, not too many people, if anyone, are interested in cents to dollars 40's (earlier?) to date. They would be interested in one series , date, or some small combination(s?) of the lot. With some luck, you could be surprised and actually make some money with a little work.

As a for-instance, I just bought a lot of 4 certified coins for $41. Shipping included. 1944 Lincoln PCGS ms66 red, 1952-s Lincoln PCGS ms66 red, 1957-d Lincoln NGC ms65 red, and 1981 PCGS 69 dcam nickel. The 2 PCGS Lincolns are worth $35-$45 and the 57 is ~$3. Basically, I got the nickel for free, but I have seen them sell for between $10 and $20. The people who wanted the nickel, did not want to pay for the Lincolns and vice versa. I plan to sell the nickel, so I , in essence, got a bargain on the Lincolns.

 

What is the 1/5 oz gold coin that you got?

 

andym129:
Welcome to the Forum.

 

Aidan,

I've seen some of their stuff on ebay and was NOT impressed. Not an SGS but might be worthy of my blog.

 

welcome to the boards andy! as was mentioned, buy the book before the coin,very good advice. i would like to add also learn to grade,this too is very important.

grizz