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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 1798688, member: 15309&quot;]I know that I might infuriate the purists with this thread by challenging one of the widely accepted maxims of numismatics that there is no price to low to pay for a problem coin, but I am gonna do it anyway.&nbsp; It has been my experience over the years that problem coins are not the problem.&nbsp; The problem occurs when a collector buys a problem coin without knowing it is a problem coin.&nbsp; If you understand how to detect problem coins, and you select coins that still have eye appeal, you can successfully buy and sell problem coins while recouping most or all of your initial investment at sale time.&nbsp; The key is being able to spot the problem and properly evaluate what the problem coin is worth.&nbsp; I have provided some anecdotal examples below.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><font size="5"><span style="color: #0000ff">1897-S Barber Half Dollar AU Details Whizzed</span></font></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Barber%20Half%20Dollars/BarberHalfDollar1898-SWhizzed_zps3b6007e6.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I purchased this coin on E-Bay in April 2007 based on some seller scans.&nbsp; I could not determine exactly what the problem was due to the poor quality of the scans which was typical back then, but I assumed the coin was a cleaned AU/MS Barber Half.&nbsp; It was only when I received the coin that I immediately discovered that it was whizzed.&nbsp; I had paid retail AU53 money for the coin and kept it because the eye appeal was very strong despite the whizzing.&nbsp; I paid $529 for this coin raw in 2007 and sold it for $533 in NGC Details plastic in 2013.&nbsp; My loss on the coin was E-Bay fees and the NGC grading fee which was about 10% of the initial purchase price.&nbsp; As many of you know, that is a pretty common loss, problem coin or not.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><font size="5"><span style="color: #0000ff">1897-O Barber Quarter AU Details Cleaned &amp; Artificially Toned</span></font></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Barber%20Quarters/BQ1897-OAUDetails_zps596e006e.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>In 2007, I was working on an AU/MS Barber Quarter Dansco collection.&nbsp; If anybody has ever attempted this endeavor, you know that you run into many date/mm that are difficult to find for reasonable prices in these grades and don&#039;t hit the market very often.&nbsp; The 1897-O Barber quarter is one of those better dates that is hard to find.&nbsp; AU coins were at least $700 and MS wer over $1,000.&nbsp; When this coin popped up on E-Bay in April 2007, I knew exactly what it was and that I could fill my hole with a modestly attractive coin for a discount price.&nbsp; The coin had AU details, had been cleaned, and then been artificially toned in order to hide the cleaning.&nbsp; I used the term &quot;modestly attractive&quot; because the artificial toning did a very good job at hiding the cleaning for the most part.&nbsp; I decided to pay XF40 wholesale money for the coin, $433.&nbsp; I sold the coin earlier this month for $450 which means my loss was limited to E-Bay fees only.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><font size="5"><span style="color: #0000ff">1922 Peace Dollar ICG Artificially Toned</span></font></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Peace%20Dollars/PD1922ICGMS60AT_zpsaaa7dab8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The inclusion of this coin in this thread is simple.&nbsp; I have seen too many people pay premiums for artificially toned common date silver coins because they look pretty.&nbsp; And while they might look pretty, your only chance to recoup your monetary investment is to have another collector make the same mistake that you did.&nbsp; These coins are worth silver melt and should be bought and sold as bullion.&nbsp; If you are going to pay a premium for a toned coin, make sure it has a guarantee provided by NGC or PCGS plastic.&nbsp; You will thank me later.&nbsp; As for this example, I made money because the price of silver was up before I sold it.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The point of this thread is simply to show that problem coins still have value in the market place.&nbsp; If you can identify the problem and then assign a correct valuation to the coin based on past auction values, you don&#039;t have to completely exclude all problem coins from your collection.&nbsp; The real key is to limit your problem coin purchases to those coins that still exhibit a level of eye appeal.&nbsp; There is a big difference between a coin that has been cleaned with a brillo pad and an uncirculated coin that shows a small cleaning spot left by someone trying to remove a small toning spot in the fields. </p><p><br /></p><p>I would like to close this little discussion by pointing out that the best way to learn how to detect problem coins is actually to view the problems in hand.&nbsp; Now I am certain that everyone has seen a cleaned coin in hand, but how many Cointalkers have seen a whizzed coin in hand?&nbsp; Purposefully buying a problem could be tuition cost for helping to avoid buying such a coin without knowing in the future.&nbsp; What say you?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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