Observations from the Bourse; But Coins
* Note: Don't be like the horse's head in the above image. Know what it is you are buying and the market liquidity of your coins.
Edouard Blin was reportedly offered only 50% of Greysheet bid for Nike of Samothrace because she was missing her head. He was told it was a "but-plaque".
There are myriad places on the internet to find coin blogs, coin show reports and coin commentary. Some of these are quite well written and at times very informative; others are sloppy, scattered and/or repetitive while a few are essentially no more than commercials for their authors. The TB Numismatics entry into this crowded field, with my first installment in May, 2015, isn't meant to identify the next hot series or to tout an individual coin. Instead, it is an infrequent contribution of notes or stories from the bourse, written with the intent of giving a glimpse of what it is to be a dealer in this field as well as some advice and lessons learned along the way.
The current installment in this series is on a topic I think about and deal with quite often; but-coins. These aren't curvy, full-figured, can't-take-your-eyes-off butt coins with two t's, but instead are otherwise or completely nice coins that for whatever reason just miss the mark. I advise my clients to avoid but-coins because the "but" part is likely to grow into a larger issue over time. I'll use a few examples, from extremely obvious to very specific, to illustrate the point.
Approximately a dozen years ago I was at my table at a show in NJ when a collector approached and offered for sale what appeared to be a wonderful 1877 Indian Head cent. His price was too low on the coin; it was about one-half of what I would have expected to pay for a choice EF (which this coin appeared to be at first glance). The obverse was a darker brown with little wear and no distracting marks, hairlines or gouges. The reverse was an entirely different story. Unfortunately, this particular 1877 Indian Head cent had been chosen to be the host coin for a love token and the reverse had been completely ground off to a flat place. Around the perimeter of the reverse was the beginning of the engraving that would make up a finished love token, but it was never completed. It was a darn shame and something that I would not invest any significant money into acquiring. Some might buy a coin like this because of the remaining obverse details and they might assume it was a bargain, but it isn't. After all, they would be essentially paying half-price for a half-coin. From the rather large pool of but-coins offered to me from the general public, this was by far the largest but-coin in the group and can be considered an outlier.
More common is the recent experience of a client asking to see an early, branch mint dime. The images on my site were clear and I had purchased the coin with the idea that someone like this client would've the coin. I shipped the coin off and received a rather long, apparently tortured email response upon the coin's arrival. It was everything he wanted in terms of grade, color, surface preservation and the number and placement of marks, but it was slightly weakly struck over one design feature. he apologized for ordering the coin, even though this area was clearly visible in the images, and he was trying to talk himself into keeping the coin. I told him to ship it back since it clearly did not meet all of his criteria. he may very well have decided to keep the coin without my urging him to send it back, but it really would do him no good to have a coin that did not meet all of his requirements.
A similare, but slightly odder thing happened with a truly choice, VF 1700s silver coin shipped to another client. I had never thought of it, but some clients want specific die rotations for the coins in their collections and this client could not determine the die rotation of the coin from my images. It turned out that the reverse was rotated perhaps ten degrees with respect to the obverse and this was too much of a rotation for this collector to accept. It seemed extreme to me to return a completely original, beautiful coin that was so tough in this grade range, but again it did not match what the collector had wanted to incorporate into his set. The upside with the 1700s silver coin was that it sold quite quickly to another very happy collector shortly thereafter, in contrast to the previously described early branch mint dime that had been requested by two clients while ti was en route to and from the client who rejected the coin. Those two clients did not want to see the coin after it was returned, presumably because they thought there was another issue with the piece aside from it being this particular collector's version of a but-coin.
These three examples are not necessarily the norm for but-coins. They ground down reverse to the 1877 Indian Head cent is a far more extreme case than will normally be encountered while the branch mint dime and 1700s silver coin are very mild but-coins that were problematic to a certain segment of the collecting pool due to what many would consider a minor quick or characteristic. In my experience, but-coins are often pieces that have one or more prominent digs in otherwise acceptable fields, feature rim dings, show a cornucopia of carbon spots on copper or nickel, reveal patches of hairlines when tilted, are dipped-out, or simply display secondary toning when they are being examined by someone who wants unmitigated originality. Personally, I do not like to include but-coins in my collection and I attempt to avoid advocating for such coins when it comes to my clients.
It is important to note that not all coins are perfect and that waiting for an MS70 to appear in a VF30 holder will result in a mighty slim collection. However, it is also important to maintain some internal standards of quality not only for personal enjoyment, but also with the realization that most every coin that is purchased is one day sold and those coins that are enjoyed most by their current owners have a better chance to find happy homes rather quickly when the time for parting arrives. Therefore, I think it good advice to think about your collection, your collecting goals and the typical qualities of the coins that will be required to fulfill those goals prior to jumping into a niche collection headlong. Additionally, a little discipline can go a long way toward improving the overall eye appeal of a group of coins. Lastly, while some (not me) preach the power of the "filler" until a better piece can be had, the willingness to wait and pay up for the right coin is a critical trait, as is the knowledge do pass up the wrong coin even thought it might be a "bargain".
The current installment in this series is on a topic I think about and deal with quite often; but-coins. These aren't curvy, full-figured, can't-take-your-eyes-off butt coins with two t's, but instead are otherwise or completely nice coins that for whatever reason just miss the mark. I advise my clients to avoid but-coins because the "but" part is likely to grow into a larger issue over time. I'll use a few examples, from extremely obvious to very specific, to illustrate the point.
Approximately a dozen years ago I was at my table at a show in NJ when a collector approached and offered for sale what appeared to be a wonderful 1877 Indian Head cent. His price was too low on the coin; it was about one-half of what I would have expected to pay for a choice EF (which this coin appeared to be at first glance). The obverse was a darker brown with little wear and no distracting marks, hairlines or gouges. The reverse was an entirely different story. Unfortunately, this particular 1877 Indian Head cent had been chosen to be the host coin for a love token and the reverse had been completely ground off to a flat place. Around the perimeter of the reverse was the beginning of the engraving that would make up a finished love token, but it was never completed. It was a darn shame and something that I would not invest any significant money into acquiring. Some might buy a coin like this because of the remaining obverse details and they might assume it was a bargain, but it isn't. After all, they would be essentially paying half-price for a half-coin. From the rather large pool of but-coins offered to me from the general public, this was by far the largest but-coin in the group and can be considered an outlier.
More common is the recent experience of a client asking to see an early, branch mint dime. The images on my site were clear and I had purchased the coin with the idea that someone like this client would've the coin. I shipped the coin off and received a rather long, apparently tortured email response upon the coin's arrival. It was everything he wanted in terms of grade, color, surface preservation and the number and placement of marks, but it was slightly weakly struck over one design feature. he apologized for ordering the coin, even though this area was clearly visible in the images, and he was trying to talk himself into keeping the coin. I told him to ship it back since it clearly did not meet all of his criteria. he may very well have decided to keep the coin without my urging him to send it back, but it really would do him no good to have a coin that did not meet all of his requirements.
A similare, but slightly odder thing happened with a truly choice, VF 1700s silver coin shipped to another client. I had never thought of it, but some clients want specific die rotations for the coins in their collections and this client could not determine the die rotation of the coin from my images. It turned out that the reverse was rotated perhaps ten degrees with respect to the obverse and this was too much of a rotation for this collector to accept. It seemed extreme to me to return a completely original, beautiful coin that was so tough in this grade range, but again it did not match what the collector had wanted to incorporate into his set. The upside with the 1700s silver coin was that it sold quite quickly to another very happy collector shortly thereafter, in contrast to the previously described early branch mint dime that had been requested by two clients while ti was en route to and from the client who rejected the coin. Those two clients did not want to see the coin after it was returned, presumably because they thought there was another issue with the piece aside from it being this particular collector's version of a but-coin.
These three examples are not necessarily the norm for but-coins. They ground down reverse to the 1877 Indian Head cent is a far more extreme case than will normally be encountered while the branch mint dime and 1700s silver coin are very mild but-coins that were problematic to a certain segment of the collecting pool due to what many would consider a minor quick or characteristic. In my experience, but-coins are often pieces that have one or more prominent digs in otherwise acceptable fields, feature rim dings, show a cornucopia of carbon spots on copper or nickel, reveal patches of hairlines when tilted, are dipped-out, or simply display secondary toning when they are being examined by someone who wants unmitigated originality. Personally, I do not like to include but-coins in my collection and I attempt to avoid advocating for such coins when it comes to my clients.
It is important to note that not all coins are perfect and that waiting for an MS70 to appear in a VF30 holder will result in a mighty slim collection. However, it is also important to maintain some internal standards of quality not only for personal enjoyment, but also with the realization that most every coin that is purchased is one day sold and those coins that are enjoyed most by their current owners have a better chance to find happy homes rather quickly when the time for parting arrives. Therefore, I think it good advice to think about your collection, your collecting goals and the typical qualities of the coins that will be required to fulfill those goals prior to jumping into a niche collection headlong. Additionally, a little discipline can go a long way toward improving the overall eye appeal of a group of coins. Lastly, while some (not me) preach the power of the "filler" until a better piece can be had, the willingness to wait and pay up for the right coin is a critical trait, as is the knowledge do pass up the wrong coin even thought it might be a "bargain".
