I've had two great buys this year. A few months ago, I purchased a five coin lot of Morgan dollars. I'm very new to collecting. Only owned three coins at the time. The picture was blurry and the dates weren't listed. The seller had many items for sale, but these were the only coins. I got them for $45. When they arrived, the return address was from a pawn shop. All five coins turned out to be errors and varieties. Ended up with a 45 degree rotated die, three highly desirable VAMs (I-4, R-5+), and one 1878 8TF coin I have yet to attribute. The second deal came very recently. It was a 1902-P Morgan dollar. I could see from the photo that the ear was doubled. Like I said, I am very new to collecting and remember lots of double ears in the Morgan books. I checked the Top 100 book I recently purchased and found it listed as the key 1902-P variety. I paid $11 for the VAM-4.
For potential return on investment, it was a Henning counterfeit nickel that was not accurately described. I got it for $1, and that included a real 1944 silver nickel also. The Hennings go on eBay for as much as $20 (or more, when it gets crazy), but mine is in barely circulated condition, making it a rarity. I’ll bet I could hype it up to $50 or more if I sold it (which I won’t).
I paid PR64 wholesale money for an 1878 3-Cent Nickel Proof 65 NGC. The coin is great and it's a proof-only year! Mintage of 2,450, surviving member probably number less than 1500. This coin simply never goes for wholesale to the public and it's rarely even available for purchase. I'm not sure how I got that lucky.
I think the winner for me this year will have to be the 1723/22 Woods Hibernia half penny that I purchased for roughly $28 for and sold for $110. The seller never mentioned the overdate and the pictures were questionable.
A roll of 1964 Canadian quarters for about $30.00 Cdn. The one coin I sent to be graded came back as MS65 and all the others look about the same to me. CCN trends gives a retail of $60.00
To be honest - I've had so many good buys on ebay it would take too long to list them. But perhaps the best I ever had was when I found a certain variety 1769 4 reale struck in Mexico City. I paid about $300 for that coin - there are a handful ( perhaps 4 ) known to exist in the world.
I already replied, but I like this one too. Got it in a Dutch auction for $8. Listed as "1921 Morgans, mixed mints, mostly AU". I realized I got lucky when I received the coin and saw the reverse.
I don't always rate my "best buys" as to how much I paid, but rather that I was able to find something that I really wanted. For some numismatic items, there simply is no "price guide" available, so the value must be determined by those willing to purchase it. I am very lucky to have found this piece , and it really looks great in my collection.
A good buy and from a seller with 100% (99.98% really)feedback with over 7000 responses. They're hard to find that good.
just looked closer..... is it that the 'e' in "we" is missing? and if so....how much would that coin be worth?
Sorry. I wasn't trying to do a "find Waldo" on anyone. I missed the details in my excitement. Yes. It's a die fill. The E is mostly missing and the T in TRUST is partially filled. There is a similar coin from 1921-D (VAM-1Z) listed at $65 for AU50 and $85 for AU58 (from Rob Joyce's book on 1921-D's printed in 2003). I just like the way it looks. I don't have many coins... only a couple of AU's. I asked if it would get a new VAM assignment, but because there is still an outline of the E, it won't. I still think it looks pretty cool.
A couple years ago, I got a 1939 Walking Liberty Half that is in AU condition for about $10-$12! Coin Prices list it as $22.50 in AU-50!! David
