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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 751068, member: 15309&quot;]Mike,</p><p><br /></p><p>While I agree with you about people (myself included occasionally) paying ridiculous prices for common coins with common toning, we will have to disagree about the photography issue.&nbsp; I know your opinion of Anaconda/Brandon Kelley and don&#039;t share it.&nbsp; I think he is of the same caliber photographer as Mark Goodman and others.&nbsp; Remember, I have purchased 10-20 coins from Anaconda and never once was I left with the feeling that the photo was better than the coin in hand.&nbsp; For the most part, the coins were even better in hand because it is hard to capture luster &amp; color together in a photo.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>My assessment of Anaconda and Brandon is based on my experience with them.&nbsp; I will readily admit that Anaconda charged exorbitant prices for the majority of their coins.&nbsp; However, if you watched their inventory closely over an extended period of time, it was possible to make reasonable offers that would be accepted.&nbsp; Despite their fleecing ways, they did not use extreme photo editing practices on their photos and I consider them some of the best images in numismatics.</p><p>&nbsp; </p><p>They made money by purchasing exceptional toned coins at major sales from Heritage and others and then sold them with large retail mark ups on their website with drastically improved photos.&nbsp; They are not the only dealers that do this, Chubberchub (E-Bay) is the first other one to come to mind.&nbsp; I will give you and Doug an example of what I am talking about.&nbsp; The following three Morgan Dollars were part of the Great Falls collection and sold as one lot in the 2007 Long Beach Sale.&nbsp; Here is a link to the auction.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=430&amp;Lot_No=5441" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=430&amp;Lot_No=5441" rel="nofollow">http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=430&amp;Lot_No=5441</a></p><p><br /></p><p>As you can see, Anaconda paid $2,185 for the lot which is a premium of 15X Numismedia Wholesale.&nbsp; They then listed them on their website for nearly $1,000 each. Here are the comparitive photos of the obverse of each coin (Heritage-top).</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Morgan%20Dollar%20Journey%201881-S/GreatFallsLot5441Auction430copy.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;I purchased all three coins for a total of $2,600.&nbsp; Was it foolish to pay 18X wholesale for these coins?&nbsp; Probably!&nbsp; Will I recover my costs if I ever sell these coins?&nbsp; Probably not!&nbsp; Do I blame Anaconda for making a profit of $415 (19%)? Certainly not!&nbsp; Are these coins ever going drop below 10X wholesale?&nbsp; I severely doubt it because I have seen them in hand!</p><p><br /></p><p>I would like to thank both you and Doug for pointing out that one coin does not define a market.&nbsp; I was not aware of that, or was I?<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left"><span style="color: #000000"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: left"><span style="color: #000000">The quote above is from my OP in this thread.</span></p> <p style="text-align: left"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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