Scared to buy raw coins?

Thread to share stories of raw coin or coins that you did not buy because
A) Did not collect.
B) Way beyond what you want to spend
C) Not confident enough to buy raw.


When I first started collecting I had a guy in Des Moines claim to have an 1893-s Morgan raw. I just could not believe it. I was first starting out and he wanted $4000 and I don't think I'd spent a total of $1000 at that point.

I passed.

2 weeks later.......friend bought it, came back AU Details.
Damn.

Part II:
I know an entire family that has a hoard of ancient coins. It was split 4 ways between the children. I am sure it is worth a ton of cash but I do not collect Ancients and have told them I am a novice in that area. They still email me pictures of a few coins every know and then and I spent hours researching them.

They could have a 10 million dollar collection for all I know.

 

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A couple of years ago i found a raw 1856 flying eagle cent on ebay. It was really worn, holed, and you could just barely make out the 6. However the coin location was in Austria. Immediatly i have concerns but i start bidding on it anyways. It was three days from ending on auction and really cheap. Im sure there were people with similar concerns. I was winning with a bid of $350.00. Crazy. I figured if i won and it was fake or altered i could file a claim through ebay since the seller claimed it was real. But anyways i lost in the last 15 seconds and was outbid by three other people. The final price ended up $515.00. I would have bid more but i was saving for vegas since i was turning 21 a week later. In a way im glad i didnt get it cause it would probably be fake but i guess i will never know.

 

I won't touch a raw Indian quarter eagle. There are too many fakes, some of them are really good, and I don't know enough about them yet.

 

I would buy a raw coin only from a dealer I totally trusted.

 

Old gold isn't my thing so I'm always leery about buying it raw

 

I've bought hundreds of raw coins. I usually do OK but have had a few losers. No worse than my luck at the poker tables.

 

I've bought hundreds if not thousands of raw coins. I've only had a couple fool me. One was an electrotype Massachusetts cent. I just didn't look at as close as I should because where it came from. I've bought plenty that I missed problems like cleaning or filed rims or scratches on because I either didn't look or didn't look close enough and yes I've bought raw trade dollars. Quite a few actually

 

I've only ever bought 4 coins that were graded. Every other coin I have ever bought has been raw.

 

I've been buying raw coins for over 50 years. Why would I stop now? I've also been buying slabbed coins for nearly 30 years. They all became raw coins as soon as they got home.

Just like my granddaughter's Barbie dolls ALL coins are raw. Some simply come with cute outfits.

 

I think I have 6 slabbed coins right now? I know I had to start using two hands to count them. The rest are raw.

 

I've bought a few ungraded or raw coins. Some have come back with a straight grade and a couple with details.

I like the idea of buying ungraded coins, but I want to view them in-hand or buy from a trusted dealer.

When viewing raw coins on eBay, my approach is to expect it to be a details coin and try to prove to myself that it's not.

 

Every high grade raw coin I've bought on Ebay and submitted for grading has come back as "Details" (cleaned). The lesson to me is either get a guarantee from the seller that the color is original when purchasing it so it can be returned or don't buy it at all.

 

All I buy is raw coins I'm a investor not a collector, plus if I buy a graded coin for 300.00 I think it will be the same value 10 years down the road were Silver will most likely spike up in that same amount of time at some point, To each his own but I want buy slabed coins or anceints.

 

I wouldn't buy a raw coin on EBay with someone else's money. The risk of doing so is well documented.

 

If you want slabed coins buy slabed coins don't buy a raw coin on ebay that somebody is claiming it is a certain grade with less than stellar pics, more than likely it want grade out good luck guys.

 

And my experience has been precisely the opposite of yours. I only ever had one coin EVER come back from NGC in a details slab, and that one I bought in person. (I still think it's not cleaned. I believe NGC got it wrong.) Every coin I ever bought on eBay came back numeric, and most higher than I insured them for on the sheet. The key is to NEVER buy ANYTHING without crisp well-lit high res photos. If the seller won't invest in that, I don't invest in them.

 

I have bought hundreds of thousands of raw coins. Some still get by me. the Quarter Eagle Indians are especially hard to catch and I bought a bad one in a local estate auction recently. It was actually a nicer piece than our mint could make and I was hoping for a 64.
I also missed a 1912 S Liberty 5¢. It was obviously an added mint mark. I just didn't look too close. 1916 D dimes are another one I wouldn't by without a return privilege.

 

After yesterday and today, I think I'm more hesitant to buy raw in bulk when the prices seem to good to be true for the advertised condition.

I'd still buy raw though and consider large purchases of them.

 

To each their own but when the coin stays in a slab it is protected and your heirs would have an idea of its value. In a slab, there may be a "value-added" benefit too for the price of the grading.

I know several collectors who crack out their coins to put in an album but they save the labels. Just saying...

 

...and most of all: YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING