Hi Folks. Okay I got the Red Book. My confusion lies here. I'm looking at several coins on a site and many say BU. I'm assuming that means Brilliant Uncirculated. But I've read all the acronyms on pg 9 of Red Book. And "BU" isn't mentioned as a coin condition. Unless I'm missing something. So I'm suspicious. Plus I would think an Uncirculated coin would be Certified an graded. I don't want to be a sucker. HELP
Prior to the introduction of the Sheldon Scale which provides numeric grading, coins ranging from MS60 to MS70 (mint state) were graded BU, Choice BU or Gem BU. Since these descriptives are no longer used, it would be pointless for the Red Book to list them. Chris
BU is an older grading term along with a multitude of others such as: -- UNC (Uncirculated - approximately translates to MS-60) -- BU (Brilliant Uncirculated - approximately translates to MS-61 thru -64) -- Gem BU (Gem Brilliant Uncirculated - approximately translates to MS-65 and up) Other people will be by to fine tune/add to those. ~~~~~~ See, I had forgotten Choice.
I can't believe I started this with "what exactly do I have and what could I get for them?" And now I'm actually looking for interesting coins to buy. CRAZY. once I got the Red Book I became fascinated. Am I actually becoming a coin "nerd". No offense I mean nerd in the best possible way. Indearment really.
Ugh. Boy am I nervous. I'm currently bidding on a 1964 Silver Proof Kennedy Half Dollar. And I don't have any idea if this web site is legitimate. And I'm down to 2 minutes. It's Police Auctions.com. and my Spidey senses is telling me it's not a real police auction. I'm at $11. If I'm being gullable or just straight up stupid. I can take it.
So turns out I'm a chump. I deserve it for not reading reviews. Policeauctions.com is a total scam. They sell jewelry too and I noticed nothing was solid gold everything plated. That made me read reviews after the fact. Which I know better. Never start buying things on the internet at 2:30 in the morning because you can't sleep. Never works out well.
I definitely will in the future. I rarely think people are nefarious at first impression. Times nefarious/unscruplas/cons by 10,000 and that's the internet selling sites. 10,000 is I'm sure a very conservative number. who really knows. A LOT of scammers in the world and I need to be careful. And like @Islander80-83 said. Come here first. Good advice
We have all been chumps...and made mistakes...you are light years ahead of where you started. So, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger, you are in good company...Spark
See if there is a coin club in your city or close. Then join it. Check out any coin dealers in your city on a slow day at their store. See who you feel connected to. Coins are not going away, they will be around long after all of us are dust. Therefore, SLOW DOWN. If you must buy something, make sure it is graded by one of the four major grading services. I don't recommend you buy anything over $30 for now. Best way to spend your $30 is to buy old silver coins in the best shape possible. Its called "junk silver." This will be a cheap investment in silver and help teach yourself to grade and look closely at coins. You'll need to buy a 5X to 10X magnifier too - nothing more powerful. Stay on CT every day to read posts and ask questions. The guys and gals here will take good care of you. In the meantime you can decide what to collect. SLOW DOWN.
I started collecting in 1948. I have always been very active. I can't tell how much I have learned in a couple of years on this site. These folks (collectively) are real good and helpful.
No it probably NOT a real police auction. The real thing to watch out for on that site would probably be a buyers fee added to your bid and check the shipping fees. Site such as this tend to have excessive shipping fees. Although people my criticize it ebay would probably be a better choice to look at for buying things like that Kennedy half.
Nice to have you on board, Dnna. (is that Donna w/o the o ?) As you can see you are already getting some great advice. Welcome to Coin Talk !! where there is not a single confused newbie in the house that we can't unconfuse. Ask questions, post photos and just generally have fun while you learn about coin collecting. That Red Book was a great investment, wasn't it? One of the best. It won't be long before you'll be skoolin' the next newbies.
So, I take it you did get the Kennedy half? I hope it isn't a Chinese fake, but if it is, it will be a good learning experience and you'll be able to examine it up close.
Yup, good advice Dnna. Even if it did come from a guy in a funny lookin hat. 'Course now if he had some dark glasses on ........ And this guy, yeah, I'd listen to him too - even if he is older than me. And ya gotta realize there's those who claim that there's images of me from Ancient Egypt - so that's sayin something ! In any event, read, ask questions first before buying any coins, and buy another book or two once ya figure out what holds your interest. Do that, and you'll be fine
eBay has some junk, and I'm sure quite a few scams. If you know what you're doing and stick to sellers with good feedback and lots of it, you'll probably be okay, however. Also, I only buy coins that have been certified by one of the big three: ANACS, NGC, PCGS. I've been buying and selling on eBay since 1999 and have gotten very few bad coins. Just today I received a 1930-S S-L 25c PCGS certified as MS66, with CAC sticker. I'm completely happy with it.
As others have suggested, you do need to invest some time in the learning process. However, here's a simple tip that can spare you from much of that bidder's anxiety: When you're shopping for common modern coins — and a 64 Kennedy proof certainly falls into that category — simply limit your options to NGC or PCGS certified coins. I just did a quick check of sold listings on Ebay and many slabbed 64 Kennedy proofs have been selling for under $15. You'll pay close to that for raw. Why invite all that anxiety (Is it fake? Has it been harshly cleaned? Am I getting scammed?) when there's very little monetary benefit in doing so? As for where to shop — as much as Ebay gets criticized on this forum for its shortcomings (mostly deserved) it's still a far better place to buy coins than the sketchier venues out there. Good rule of thumb: any place that invokes "police" is probably a place to avoid. Welcome to CoinTalk!
