what was your worst coin buy?

1932 s quarter that was tooled. Paid way to much for this fake

 

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worse coin buy for this bidder.... 1/10 Troy oz of silver for this price? Uhhh... anyone? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-Engelh...27?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item5af1629347

 

A raw Seated Liberty Dollar in VF that I paid $300 for. Knew it had been cleaned but thought I had a bargain Every time I look at it, I kick my self for not spending $100 more and getting one slabbed. The other was the P_G_ freebie in MS65. Now I get constant emails.

 

Got the same freebie and I get no emails. Pretty sure you can opt out of them.

 

One of my worst was when I got into collecting I wanted a Flying Eagle (still one of my favorite kind, but now I stay away from copper). I bought one on Ebay and thought it was pretty good, but upon later inspection I realized just how harshly cleaned it really is. Bummer . I have been looking for a nice semi-high graded one since then, but they are expensive.

 

My recently mistake was brought nice dark toned IKE coin for $4.00 turn out to be heavy harsh cleaned. Never buy coins without magnify.

 

Today the worst thing that can happen to any collector happened to me. I bought a Santiago 1834 2 reales with mintage of only 3700 from a seller that is not a coin dealer. The coin looked OK in the picture and I bought it for steap price. The guy decided to take some metal polish and shine it up before sending it. So, anyone who think they can live with it send me your address and you will have it.

 

When I started collecting and before I could spot problem coins I bought a twenty cent piece at an auction that I now regret purchasing. Not a huge monetary loss and in the end it helped me realize that I needed to learn more before I started spending. Luckily soon afterwards I found a reputable coin shop owner who steered me away from problem examples.

 

Thank you so much for bringing up silver. Back when silver was real cheap, I had gotten some money (broken arm in Walmart) and bought quite a lot of junk silver, mint and proof sets, etc. CHEAP!!!! In these lean times, it sure has helped out with all the mouths I have to feed. But wow, silver was soooo cheap not so long ago. And sure helps with the sting of being an idiot for buying that counterfeit trade dollar. That was such a bonehead move....lol.

 

I think one of the reasons the coin grading services have done so well and that graded coins are so much more expensive than raw ones is that so many people have been burned by unscrupulous people selling misrepresented raw coins, especially on eBay. I find myself reluctantly spending the extra $$ for a certified coin (the few times there was a coin I just had to have and had the $$). If I have time on my hands and am really bored, I'll go scoping out Sellers on eBay. It doesn't take long to spot the obvious "tells". About a week ago I found some really lame Seller who was buying mostly Walkers and reselling them from the same account. Nothing dishonest there except for his either laziness or stupidity....he was also buying MS70 from the same account.

 

I gave 25 cents for a Venezuelan 20 bolivares coin. I figure it was worth something like 2 cents, but I wanted it so I happily paid the quarter for it.

 

Ah...the "gold" coins from China that you have to send Western Union checks to. The husband is still getting the "Gibbs" smack behind the head for that one!

 

The first coin I ever purchased was an "XF" 1892 O Barber Quarter from a crap pawn shop. I paid $40. It's a melt coin with damaged surfaces, worth a whopping $3.98... It's now my lucky coin.