What's the highest cost coin you'll buy raw?

For me, it's about $200 for modern coins. I'm using "modern" in the sense of ancient vs medieval vs modern, so all U.S. coins are modern. However, I don't have any modern coins between $150 and $400 value, so my resolve has never been tested in that range. I don't have any gold bullion coins, and my attitude would be different in that category. I have some ancient coins worth more than $200, and none are certified. Most of the value of my collection is in moderns though.

I simply find the peace of mind worth the extra cost (if any) to buy more expensive modern coins already certified by NGC or PCGS. There is almost no chance of buying a fake. One can argue about grades within a narrow range and find occasional blatant misgradings. However, the grade on the slab provides a reasonable indicator of value in the market, which is even better with a CAC sticker. This allows me to concentrate on the location of dings and nicks, strike, toning, luster, color, wear spots, variety, provenance, etc. and less on trying to determine authenticity and exact numerical grade.

Cal

 

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I actually only own one single slabbed coin and I only bought it for a reference point to grade others. Plus, it would cost me a fortune to go that route with all of my 'better coins'. Most I've ever spent on raw was around 75-90 bucks, I think. I got lots of coins from my good friend that died who was big into coins (at least compared to me), so I got all of them in groups (cheap). Lotta 'junk' I guess folks here would say. They've all gone up in value though so I'm happy. Collectively, I've got a fair amount dollar wise. Jst spread over many coins varying in price from several dollars each to several hundred. Never spent too much on one coin. I was into quantity.

 

Likely under $150, excluding certain modern issues. I do go higher for some items from the US Mint or Perth Mint (which there are no worries about authenticity).

 

I purchased a set of raw ARRC bingles for one coin I felt would upgrade my set. It was not the only one that graded well. $1800 for the set.

 

Tell us more about ARRC bingles. I know they are tokens from Alaska, but that's about it.

Cal

 

On the few occasions (very few occasions) that I buy something direct from the Mint or a modern Mint product from a reliable dealer, I want it to be in the original government packaging. So, those are low outlay coins.

I did put together a set of ASE reverse proofs that were slabbed. For practical purposes, that's all I found on the market, wanting them individually.

 

I have only a handful of graded coins, two pr-70 Kennedy half dollars, a small gold coin from Lesotho, and a silver Egyptian pound that i had graded. I didn't pay over $50 for any of them, and the most I have paid for a raw coin is a 1925-F Germany 3 Reichsmark, that i think I paid around $60 for f a remember correctly.

 

Raw moderns? Buy them by the bag from the US Mint......search them for potentially high grade business strikes.......submit them to NGC for MS68's or better......it paid off for me for Sac dollars (Soaring Eagle), Kennedy halves and State quarters.

Chris

 

I want PCGS or NGC to hold my hand with classic proofs. I feel good having their opinions. Getting back on topic, I don't have a limit if I know and trust the dealer. I don't buy much from folks I don't know.

 

I once paid $1100 for a raw 1799 large cent. Although I knew the dealer and he agreed to refund me in full if it was fake. Came back PCGS VG det. environmental damage.

Another time I paid $1000 for a raw 1836 reeded edge bust half on eBay. It came back cleaned VF details from NGC and I auctioned it off and made about $300.

 

No set limit, but I look for hidden treasures that everyone else is passing on because they're raw.

 

I honestly can't even comprehend buying a coin so far out of my competence that I had to depend on a TPG to believe it was worth the price. Each to his own, of course, but if I didn't trust myself buying it raw I wouldn't buy it.

 

It has nothing to do with price, and all to do with value. For example, if the raw coin can be purchased at 50% of grey sheet (dealer to dealer), I will do that. My thinking is always how can I or my heirs dump the coin fast if needed, and come out ok.
A high priced slab does not guarantee a return if sold. Now I have made about every mistake one can make, but "buying way low" is always a good philosophy.

 

Like SuperDave above, I have no limit on what I would pay for raw vs slabbed. I've spent well into the middle 4 figures raw and I've spent well into the lower 4 figures slabbed. Although I wasn't the winner I've bid just over 5 figures on a raw coin in the past...probably won't do that again simply because auction houses seldom sell such coins raw anymore.

The slabbed coins I buy are going to turn back into raw coins as soon as I own them anyway, so why would I pay more for them than I would if they were raw when I bought them?

 

If someone is offering a raw classic proof, the first question I ask is why this has never been slabbed. I never like the potential answers.

 

For my area, anyone who has a rule about not buying raw coins over a certain price is gonna miss a whole buncha great coins. 4-figure, and even 5-figure, coins regularly sell raw in Pennsylvania. The old grey owners of them won't spend money on slabs. It just grates on them. You buy raw or mostly you don't buy. I'll easily go well over $1000 on raw at a back-country auction. Many pieces are "new to the market" going back 75-80 years or more.

It's nothing special to see Buffalo sets in original panels with the later dates written in. Yep, I know what that means. Mercs, too.

One recent auction within three miles of my house had a 1794 and a 1795 silver dollar, both VF, both raw.

 

I bought a 1922 no D die pair 2 raw. Still is. The dealer was trustworthy and all the markers were. Also bought my 1912 matte proof raw.

 

I have no limit other than what my budget will bear. I've paid hundreds for coins that I took a chance on. My quarters registry set has some great examples, a 32-s bought for 450 that came back ms64, a 40-d for $175 that came back 66. If you limit yourself, you limit yourself you could be missing out big time.

 

I know that in some areas of the country, where numismatists can assume that "everything" is out there and known (I STILL believe they're wrong, but whatever...) they spout stuff like "If it's not in a slab, there's a reason." I heard Matt Dinger say EXACTLY that on the Coin Show Radio podcast with @mikenoodle. My recollection is thinking that Matt must be smoking something. But it IS a regional thing. There are still hoards of colonials being discovered where I live, and not with metal detectors, either. Glass jars hidden where floor joists meet walls and stuff like that as Gen-X yuppies rehab old colonial homes are yielding incredible hoards of original material. These towns, many of them, date to the very EARLY 1700's. My college was founded in 1787, man. These are old places, at least in the American context.

 

Most I've paid so far is $2,500 but I've got my eye on a $6,500 piece.