Isn’t it tempting on EBay, when you see a raw ungraded coin labeled as Gem BU selling for 100.00, right beside a graded NGC or PCGS ms 65 – 66 selling for 500.00, to take the chance.. In all honesty, I have to say that even the most eldest and experienced coin collectors want to think from a picture THEY KNOW it is a steal. But experienced buyers always know one thing; there is NO guarantee at all.

Remember, no matter how experienced you are, in the end, all you are doing is looking at a picture of a coin, which in all honesty could be doctored as well. And to be honest, in a lot of cases, even having the coin in hand it is impossible to tell some forms of cleaning and machining. There are endless potential for disaster when dealing with raw coins in the collecting industry. Coins can be whizzed, cleaned, dipped, polished, altered, dusted, electro etched, machined, or sliders to name a few. Any of these problems, even a single one will take the coin purchased, and make it totally worthless to your beautiful collection, and leave you out the money and on the hunt again for a true gem. Trust me when I tell you, this will only happen to you once, and a life long lesson will be learned. Just make sure it isn’t a HUGE lesson that you can’t recover from. Personally I rarely ever purchase raw coins, but if I ever did, I wouldn’t pay a penny over 25% of its value to me. Remember this term when dealing with raw coins, ACCEPTABLE LOSE. If you can’t accept losing all your money on the purchase, then don’t buy it. SO how do you beat this?

Graded coins provide you the means to guarantee your investment prior to purchase, and guarantee your investment until you sell. DON’T BE FOOLED THOUGH. Graded coins have also been fabricated over the years, so please careful as well when purchasing. For instance:
 
A: ALWAYS check the holder thoroughly after purchase. Check the seems on the edges carefully. Holders CAN be opened and glued back shut with different coins inserted at inflated grades. This was more abundant for example in the older NGC holders. Reason being that the labels on the front had no NGC logo or name, and the label itself could be photo copied with extreme ease. NGC has revamped their holders over the years to make a mini Fort Knox around their coins, but always be diligent! Just don’t fall into the old trait, that the number is verified thru NGC, so it must be legit. That number can be entered in 100 times and it will always say legit, all a crook has to do is have one real one, and the possibilities are endless.
 
B. Over the past few years, MANY overnight companies have surfaced grading coins in mass numbers and hugely inflated grades in an attempt to attract their services. Remember this, there are 3 industry leaders. PCGS, NGC, ANACS.. Bottom-line, and in that order in the industry if I am telling the truth! Outside of that, your coin will carry little to no premium on resell, and most dealers won’t even touch them. WHY do you ask? Well if you wanted too, you could go out today, and buy a bulk of holders, make a few labels, and guess what… That’s right, you’re a coin grading company, and it’s that easy. I have seen coins grade as much as 6 grades lower in the top three companies. I have seen coins that were fake, cleaned, whizzed, and the funniest one ever I saw was in Baltimore a few years ago,  a 2 headed Kennedy halve graded as a MULE……Some of these companies may be a legitimate service, but a LARGE majority of them I feel grade by a 5 foot appearance, meaning the coin never gets more than 5 feet close to them and they assign a grade. Don’t use unproven companies in building your collection in which you will want a return in the future, you will be disappointed. Just know that if you fall into the junk coin graders traps, then that is what you have, junk coins, and in the end, you will be angry at yourself.

C: This a valuable tip that will give you understanding of  EBay scams to. Some sellers make a huge profit on EBay by scouring the land for graded AU 55-58 coins that have been graded. They in-turn break out the coins from their holders, and sell them as uncirculated on EBay. Sound shady to you, well it is. If you have been in the coin world for anytime, you will know that the difference between a AU-58 and a MS-60 in the respected grading industries in minimal, and a lot of the time undetectable even in hand, much less thru a photo. The seller pays bulk rate wholesale on AU coins, then pull bottom-line premium for uncirculated on EBay, the profit can be huge to the right seller in the right bulk. This scenario also works for NGS coins that have been cleaned, scratched, or have environmental damage but have been authenticated. These coins are bought at extremely low prices, but broken out and sold at high profit margins to a seller. But the sellers that do this are VERY good and professional, and ALWAYS say the same thing, “we are not professional graders, grade yourself and bid accordingly” They will also close with a no return or refund clause, because they made no guarantee to the coins grade!  They are completely protected, because they made no claim to the grade, but they are NOT selling fake coins, so across the boards they make out like bandits. The people that do this are minimal to the over-all number of professional sellers, but remember they are out there, and they have no problem taking your money and running.

D: Finally, the old saying goes, raw coins are Raw for a reason. When I look on EBay, and I see huge coin dealers selling 100’s of coins, all PCGS and NGC, but in the mix is a key date raw coin for sell, I have to wonder…. This seller has 500 graded coins on EBay, but one of the most valuable ones sits there alone ungraded with a claim to be uncirculated. Follow this rule, a dealer that has been in the business for 20 years, isn’t going to lose money on a sell, and for sure isn’t going to sell a key date coin that is uncirculated for a penny less than he can get.. Large dealers pay a minimal grading fee due to their bulk, I cant imagine a dealer not paying 16 dollars to double their sells price unless they know something you don’t J… Always keep that in mind!

In closing tonight, if you are collecting for fun with your children or friends, then buy raw coins that appear nice to fill that dansco and use a party pleasure for showing off. But if you are serious about building a respected set, one that is going to bring you great profit and investment potential, a raw coin purchased on EBay is probably a foolish outlet that will cause you more headaches than profit in the end. Good luck in your hunt for that perfect coin, to me there is nothing greater than putting that last holder in the box and completing a set after years of searching!J… Always keep that in mind!

Let me add one more thing though in response to an email I recieved from a very good seeler on EBay. When you are dealing with a seller with great feedback, who has a 100% moneyback gaurantee with no strings attached, purchasing raw coins can have the potential for great gains. Also always consider that some coins in your collection do not benefit a dealer to have graded becuase the worth is to small to justify sending it in. Just always know who you are dealing with in raw coins, and make sure your key date purchases are graded..

Tomorrow I am going to take time to write a review about actual coin values, and the difference between a standard price guide value that auctions post, and the actual worth of the coin to you as an investor.  Till Then……………….