Dan769 Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 What a first day at FUN. Started off with my type set want list in hand, but that quickly went into 1875-1876 20 cent hunt. I find 3 of them, 2 graded PCGS XF 45, the other XF 40. Before I could decide it was time for the PCGS luncheon. They scaled back this year, no hot food, just sandwiches, but the price was right so no complaints from me I guess this is bad of me but I only stayed for the food, then i left. I couldn't take stting there knowing these 20 centers might get sold from under me so I went back downstairs. and after 2 hours of back and forth between dealers i picked up a 1875 in XF 45. Great coin with nice strike and original surfaces. A plug to Dick Osborn, a really nice dealer with fantastic inventory. Tho i dont need for the type set I picked up a beautiful 1911-S Barber Quarter graded XF 40 by PCGS. I couldn't help myself, I had to have it. I'm calling it an upgrade to the type set to justify. Lastly I picked up a 1877 Trade Dollar PCGS VF 35. Not sure if the price has plummeted on these, or the dealer misread their own price, but when they said $200, I said sold. Trends has it at $275 My big gamble is at the submissions table. I've sent a ANACS 1879-CC Morgan graded at XF 40 to PCGS for hopefully a crossover. I'd like to add it to my registry set there so I took a $ 100 gamble to see if it crosses. Gotta a funny feeling it's coming back as a VF, which would be about a $400 swing in value. I'll find out tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Sounds like you had a nice show so far Dan. I'm still thinking about going tomorrow. I've got seats at the NGC luncheon which is always nice and I do have a yen to add a few coins to my sets. We'll see how tonight and early tomorrow morning go first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldeCollector Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Sounds like a terrific time was had. I'd be interested to learn of other members' experiences too. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan769 Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Art I may be at the NGC lunch also, though I unexpectedly have my kids today, babysitter is sick, so I may skip the lunch and move quickly thru the bourse and get out of there. Not sure how much show the kids can take. I'll try for one more addition to the type set, only 4 to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan769 Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 One last thing, the Draped Bust and Classic head may stop me in completing this type set. Everyone that I can afford are dark brown discs that you can barely see the design. Looks like a piece of candy. Nice coins are in the multiple of hundreds of dollars and I would prefer to spend that on other items. Big dilemma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 One last thing, the Draped Bust and Classic head may stop me in completing this type set. Everyone that I can afford are dark brown discs that you can barely see the design. Looks like a piece of candy. Nice coins are in the multiple of hundreds of dollars and I would prefer to spend that on other items. Big dilemma. That's always a dilemma. I am not sure exactly what your typeset goal is but I am trying to do something similar (non gold type set, 1800-1964, including subtypes) and I have more budget than you do but I had to lower my target grade for the pre-Seated Liberty era. So I am running EF through AU in that era and MS63-66 (or AU-58 for a couple of coins that are insanely priced--check out the "no drapery" half) for anything after. Looking for sharp strikes of course. I've often had a choice between an ugly MS-65 and a much sharper and visually appealing MS-62 (my 20 cent piece for example) and my long-suffering wallet absolutely loves it when that happens. That means in a number of cases buying a coin that is a lot less than I can afford--halves run a lot cheaper than the other silver--so that it won't be a glaring grade mismatch. (I suppose if I fell in love with some nicer coin I could buy it and keep it separate from the typeset but I am trying to avoid that.) Pre 1800 too many of the coins put me in the same situation you are in: Anything I could even think of buying wouldn't be suitable for collecting, and in extreme cases I can't afford to even dream about buying coins even in Not Recognizable-0 (NR-0) since the price curve goes exponential the closer you get back to the first issues. Chain Cents and Half Dismes anyone? When I say "suitable for collecting", I mean that I don't mind a toner but I want the design to still be on the metal disk as more than a silhouette. Of course some pre-1800 types are barely affordable to me in marginally collectible grades but enough aren't that I decided to just bypass that era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan769 Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 That's always a dilemma. I am not sure exactly what your typeset goal is but I am trying to do something similar (non gold type set, 1800-1964, including subtypes) and I have more budget than you do but I had to lower my target grade for the pre-Seated Liberty era. So I am running EF through AU in that era and MS63-66 (or AU-58 for a couple of coins that are insanely priced--check out the "no drapery" half) for anything after. Looking for sharp strikes of course. I've often had a choice between an ugly MS-65 and a much sharper and visually appealing MS-62 (my 20 cent piece for example) and my long-suffering wallet absolutely loves it when that happens. That means in a number of cases buying a coin that is a lot less than I can afford--halves run a lot cheaper than the other silver--so that it won't be a glaring grade mismatch. (I suppose if I fell in love with some nicer coin I could buy it and keep it separate from the typeset but I am trying to avoid that.) Pre 1800 too many of the coins put me in the same situation you are in: Anything I could even think of buying wouldn't be suitable for collecting, and in extreme cases I can't afford to even dream about buying coins even in Not Recognizable-0 (NR-0) since the price curve goes exponential the closer you get back to the first issues. Chain Cents and Half Dismes anyone? When I say "suitable for collecting", I mean that I don't mind a toner but I want the design to still be on the metal disk as more than a silhouette. Of course some pre-1800 types are barely affordable to me in marginally collectible grades but enough aren't that I decided to just bypass that era. I realize with my budget, I cannot afford to collect a certain grade such as yourself. May sound odd but I like the look of circulated coins, IMO I think some coins look better in circ than uncirc. Of course could be my budget talking, but anyway all of my coins range from Fine to AU. I'm also trying to get them in slightly better dates where possible, all my seated coins except the dollar are CC's, etc. Budget really dictates what I can do, and of course the central air conditioning finally died after 15 years 3 days before the FUN show, which crimped my buying some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan769 Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 OK quick update, NGC lunch was nice, free beer!! And they let my children in without an invite, very nice of them. Bourse was mobbed, tough time squeezing into the better dealers tables, so I just took their card for the web address and will shop at home. Did my gamble pay off? As I suspected it was bittersweet, my 1879-CC did end up grading VF-35, just as I thought, which makes me feel good about my grading, but my wallet is not a fan. I thought it might sneak into an XF-40 after reading the grading standards so I gave it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Sounds like it was kind of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Did my gamble pay off? As I suspected it was bittersweet, my 1879-CC did end up grading VF-35, just as I thought, which makes me feel good about my grading, but my wallet is not a fan. I thought it might sneak into an XF-40 after reading the grading standards so I gave it a shot. You can try again, if it's really that close. You may or may not be able to talk to someone from one of the services, or some dealers you know who work the system for a living and see if it is as close as you think it is. They will certainly have a good idea if it is a "shot XF-40" or not. (I never liked that bit of slang, it's short for "it has a shot at making..." but to me it sounds more like "Was such and such grade until some clown damaged dropping int on the floor or cleaning it, and now it's shot to hell.") As far as liking the look of a circulated coin: Oftentimes a circulated coin will be toned in the low parts of a design and not-so-toned in the high areas, which can give it a lot of eye-pleasing contrast and bring out the design. And for me that design is what's important. I'll take a well struck AU or even a conservatively graded XF coin over an Unc coin where the detail never existed, any day--the AU may have worn a tiny bit but it shows more of the design than that Unc coin that never had it. (An easy example is all those Unc Walker halves with truly dreadful strikes. Yuck. And I run into the occasional professional who thinks I should get excited over them just because they say "Unc" on the slab.) In reality, though, I have yet to find myself in a situation where I must pick one or the other for my post 1840s stuff, so I end up actually buying neither coin but will simply move on (with my wallet sighing in relief at the stay of execution) looking for a well struck Unc. But if some dealer ever gets aggressive enough with his sales technique to put a gun to my head and make me pick... But past a certain point the detail really starts to disappear and eventually you end up with little more than a silhouette. I'd seriously consider collecting the pre-1800 types in F-XF but some of them are simply unaffordable in ANY grade, much less F. So the most I could do is draw another dividing line where I step my grade down, like say decide I will go back to 1794 (foregoing chain cents and the like and the Half Disme) in F-XF. But that won't work because the half dollar with small eagle (a post 1794 type) is one that falls in that "totally unaffordable in any grade" category and the matching quarter is not that far away from it. So 1800 it shall remain, though I might buy the one pre-1800 dime type someday and combine with the dimes in this set to make a complete dime typeset (but right now I am missing most of the dimes anyway so it's a bit early to do that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan769 Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 As far as liking the look of a circulated coin: Oftentimes a circulated coin will be toned in the low parts of a design and not-so-toned in the high areas, which can give it a lot of eye-pleasing contrast and bring out the design. You hit right on the head, you see on seated coins and Barbers most often.\ As far as the 1879-CC I showed the coin to one of the head graders at NGC last years FUN show, he said close to XF, but he would grade it VF-35 also. So I will take my beating and move on, I wont be resubmitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm considering submitting my silver quarters and clad quarters for 2012. I'll buy them certified anyway and usually go for PR69DCAM coins. If the cost is the same and I get a few PR70DCAMs out of the deal I'll be way ahead - on paper anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadpoint Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Good point, Art. Others take the same risk you're taking but defer some of the added cost of the risk to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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