I bought this Venezuela 1911 5 bolivares for $14.50. I knew it was well circulated of course, but the listing pictures were bad enough that the hairlines were not visible. I don't wittingly buy coins with hairlines. OTOH, the price I paid was good and it may not be worth the hassle and the possible expense of shipping it back. What would you do?
In my opinion, you should keep it. The coin's melt value is $11.29, so you didn't pay much over melt. Nice coin, and for $14.5, probably not worth the hassle, as you mentioned, to mail it back. If the coin was a $50 coin, and the only thing giving it value was condition, then you would definitely need to return it.
Things like this, I just add them to my "sell or trade" stash for my next coin shop visit or show. It's disgusting, but I've concluded that it's just part of doing business on eBay or the like. Sometimes you get a nicer coin than you hoped for. Edit: I don't think the coin is so bad really, though I agree it likely was cleaned at some point.
Agreed that you should probably hang onto it. Sometimes a blurry picture leads to a higher grade coin than the grade alone would suggest. Sometimes it doesn't.
If by "hairlines" you're suggesting signs of whizzing or similar harsh cleaning, I'm not seeing it. Just looks like a well worn coin to me. I think for the grade, you got a reasonably fair deal.
To me it looks like old cleaning, especially on the obverse. Not "harsh," I guess, but noticeable in a few spots.
I'll simply echo that you paid about average retail and the 'bother' of returning is not worth it. It's a nice circulated example of a large silver coin with a good design. I personally really like this coin type and would have bought it myself for the price you paid.
I really like it too. Those interesting coats of arms with animals and landscapes on the reverses of these Latin American silver dollars are sort of the republican answer to the rampant lions and escutcheons of European crowns.
So, I'm the one that voted to return it. I don't mean to be negative, but you are exhibiting a common coin collecting problem -- acquiring lots of cheap stuff too quickly. You aren't giving yourself time to learn much about the series (mintages, key dates, varieties, how to check for forgeries) before you pull the trigger. One nice aspect to slowing down is you will spend less/save more so you should be able to afford a more expensive piece that may appreciate in value. I, too, have lots of cheap stuff that will definitely not appreciate in value.
I appreciate the advice. I have been reading a great deal and trying to focus on a fairly narrow set of coins. That said, it's true I am not looking at key dates or varieties & have been focusing on type coins. Due to budget constraints, my buying is at an end for at least a little period, so I'll continue to study up.
In light of this, then your ~$3-5 tuition payment for this education is also a good deal. Don't worry about pinching pennies for a fun hobby. Worry about pinching 50s and 100s. If you focus too much on situations at this price point then you could easily fall into analysis paralysis and assign very unnecessary anxiety to something that should just be fun. Also, for comparison sake, how often do you have single meals for $14.50? The only thing you get from that is periodic reading time.
Fair points! But I think there's a very good reason for newbies like me to buy small at first. It limits the potential damage we can do! (Plus, having grown up poor, it's in my nature to sweat the small stuff - I can't seem to shake it as an adult.)
Absolutely a good reason to limit spending for newbies and I assign $14.50 purchases to the 'small' category. And I completely sympathize about why you may sweat the small stuff. Someone very close to me has been working on the same as an adult.
Aside from the 2 dates of 1935 & 36 which are very readily available in unc, I think 1911 is the next most common date? It's in above avaerage condition and I don't think the hairlines will hurt the value in this grade too much. Were it an EF or better coin they would.
I see a lot of mini hits, but no hairline cleaning scratches. Unless these are the sellers photos. It's listed as a $20 coin in F-12. (retail) With an $11 melt. If you can get along with your life if you think you have been shorted $3, then you'll just have to muddle through.
That is a very fair price for that coin in that condition. I buy similar coins in similar condition for similar prices (or even a little more) all the time. In my own silver-buying-experience-opinion , anytime you can get a silver crown sized coin with a melt of $11 - $12, in fair or better condition, for less than $15.00, you are doing very well. Remember, Please yourself, not everyone else. Which, as usual, reminds me of a song : " Garden Party " by Ricky Nelson. watch