"Problem" coins, what are they worth?

Agreed.

That is what William Sheldon tried to do with Large Cents; that's how we got the bizarre 70-point Sheldon scale we use today. His attempt to make a simple mathematical formula never worked.

For details, read Penny Whimsy.

 

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Another thought about problem coins... when various folks grade the same coin, you will find much more variance (i.e. disagreement) with problem coins than problem free coins.

IOW, if several knowledgable people are asked to grade a problem free coin, they will have a tighter concensus; their grades won't vary as much versus grades for a problem coin.

This is another reason why problem coins are more of a crap shoot; it's harder to make a reasonable estimate on what others will pay when it's time to sell.

 

Two Problems One Coin that is a Half

My coin has two problems.

1st, it is not a year older (1870) and from the San Francisco mint.

2nd is the hole in it.

Any worth?

 

What do they really mean by harshly cleaned? Did they damage the coin or just remove the dirt/patina of the years?

 

I just skimmed through the posts. There are a lot of good cases for buying or not buying problem coins. To each his own. I have some problem coins as I am sure most of us do. Some I bought on purpose, some not so much. Some I have caused the problems myself, oops. :whistle:
But one thing I noticed a few times was the fact that it would be hard to get money back out of a problem coin trying to sell to a dealer.
That is what ebay is for.

 

Ok. It's no longer a problem coin. It's a piece of jewelry. Back into the jewelry box it goes with the others.

When I read that a 1870 S half cent went for $1,000,000 I kinnda had to dig through to see how big of a problem i HAD.

1 - it is very worn.
Hopefully by the left behind loved one.

2 - it is holed and repaired

They kissed and made up after they reunited.

3 - it has a test cut in the rim

I guess that was by a jeweler so it could be repaired properly when she made it be fixed RIGHT!!?

Thank you for pointing out the repair. It changed the coins.....ere.....necklace... history for me.

Now how do I recognize that type of damage on X-coins myself?

Which bash in this breast bangle told you that?

(If had "1870 S" stamped on it I guess I'ld still see it as a tribute to Blood/Sweat & Tears)

I can find $5 somewhere else.

...........................now a Million...............??????? 8^)

 

Interesting thread. I just read it all. I tend to agree with Just Carl. I don't care about any percieved "value"...they are going to stay with me forever and when I am gone they will be covered in my will; likely donated to a museum or perhaps just buried in the woods somewhere so that future archeologists can discover them and learn some about history. Or maybe I will give them away to people who I find worthy. Or maybe I will get hit by blue ice tomorrow and not have to worry about it.

My point is that the future is not what I am concerned with. Even though I don't believe it, there are a ton of people who think that the world is going to end in 2012. If that happens, then you could have a million tons of gold, silver, platinum EACH...it won't do you much good if you are pushing up daisys. Now would it?

Now for me, I am ok with some problem coins. I would readily add them to my collection. Living on a limited income I know that if I want to get some coins they are going to have to be pretty darn bad. I'm OK with that but I have a sliding scale. Some things I would accept, some things I would not. For instance:

• A dipped coin is acceptible
• a wiped (hairlined) coin might not be acceptible, or it might be. If it looks like circulated wear, but it's actually wiped, I may go for it or I may not.
• A polished coin is likely Not going to be acceptible, I have not seen one yet that I would add.
• a Holed coin is a definite no for me. I can't bring myself to love those coins, no matter what. IF, and this is a big if, it was the only known example, I would likely accept it then, however be sad every time I saw it that it was ruined. But if it was the only known example I wouldn't be able to afford it, holed or not, and it's a moot point unless it is something I dig up out of the ground. (Coins from around the world that came from the mint with a hole is a different story)
• a bent coin is acceptible, but not for my main collection. I have a collection of heavily damaged coins, and I would add it for that if I got it for face or slightly more then face. I already have a few and I enjoy them, but for the fact that they are damaged, not as my main collection. I call that collection my "Run Over by a Truck Collection"
• A corroded coin may or may not be acceptible. It would vary with each coin, I've seen some online that looked fine, and some that looked awfull.
• A modified coin is not acceptible. For an example a 1916 dime with an added D, or a 1922 cent with the D filed off.
• A tooled coin would NOT be acceptible. There are pretty much only 4 things that would keep a coin out of my collection- a hole, a polishing, a tooling, and an altered coin.

Obviously, counterfits are not really welcome in my collection, especially when they are made out to be the real thing. There are some counterfits that are so out there, that they could be considered a fantasy piece and if they make me laugh then I might be willing to accept them if they were free; I would not pay for them, I would rather spend my money on real coins. (I am referencing coins that look like they were hand drawn or are not copies of real coins, they are simple "coins" made that are not copies of actual coins.

 

I wouldn't mind owning problem coins so long as I can get them for a fair market price. I've been looking for some nice gold American pieces and have found that many "problem" coins, cleaned/scratched where fetching prices near those of a problem free coin. In this case, seems buying a problem free coin is the way to go.

PG

 

I don't think there is any problem adding a problem coin to your collection as long as (1) you like and wanted the coin in whatever condition it's in, and (2) you paid a problem coin price for it.

For some reason, the hobby considers it more acceptable to pay a high price for a premium quality coin and subsequently sell it at a loss than to pay a very low price for a problem coin and subsequently sell it at a loss.

 

A problem coin is a coin nobody I know wants.

A problem coin is a coin nobody I know wants.
I would not give any price for this coin that's right no price.
Reason, nobody I deal with wants it at least to buy it - I might give it away to kids or something but even then, I would rather give them a lower grade coin without problems.
It took awhile to learn this though and I did not get it right off. I sort of thought if it had some good details it would make up for it - it don't.
Be it cleaned, scrathched, holed, rim ding. nobody wants a problem coin and why should they if they learn they can get the same coin without problems later on.
Too many coins out there to settle for one with problems!

 

Kind of strange, isn't it?

I like a clean problem free unc as much as the next person, but I think the hobby in general is getting carried away with it's dismissal of any coin that even looks to be cleaned or is not near perfect.


I do agree with BHP, with most coins a person can take thier time and find a good clean, well struck, problem free coin. That said, if I need a harder to find coin to fill a hole and a blem can help me fill it, I have no problem with that.

 

I didn't bother to read through this thread and most likely this was already said but --

The older the coin, generally the more leeway TPG's give it. If you have an early US gold coin from 1811, and it's been lightly cleaned, odds are the TPG's will grade it and deem it 'market acceptable'.

 

Quite likely - depends on the coin. And the direction of the wind. :whistle:

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the world ends, there won't be any daisies to push up, will there?

 

Be careful buying expensive coins with scratches, you will have problems selling them higher price, the value usually of these type of coins dropping in a few hundred dollars. Be very careful again buying coins with scratches.

 

Yep, true.

 

I am putting together a dansco type set with only holed coins. I have filled a couple other type books with vf and xf (and am working on an AU/MS set now) coins but was looking for more of a challenge when it comes to actually finding them. A lot of the holed coins in my set would grade at least vf and I would say I paid about 7% of actual cost for them. Perfect example is a 1804 Half Cent with a spiked chin and a large hole in the left field that I got for 33 bucks. The coin easily grades vf (hair leaves dress) if not higher, it has original color and surfaces. and the hole does not distract from any of the details. Pay what you want but what you want sell what you want. Everyone has there niches, I just love coins, holed scratched cleaned worn old new cool and dull. show em off buy em up love em,.