Which would you choose ?.

[PWA 1967]

This is a wide open question    but more related to scarcer coins as with common ones the answer would be obvious.

If a coin was scarce /rare and one was higher grade but had problems verd,cleaned,corrosion etc.

Would you buy that one or for a similar price , lesser grade but problem free.
 

I only buy pennies but the question relates to any coin.

Pete.

[Michael-Roo]

Lesser grade but problem free.

Verdigrs, cleaning, corrosion, etc. all cancel out any eye appeal the better coin may otherwise have had.

[jaggy]

First, I would not buy a coin that had significant problems. For me, the buying decision would then depend on how much 'lesser' the grade was. I might buy the lesser grade if it was at least a VF but still with the intention of upgrading when a better one came along. Less than VF then I probably would not buy either.

[terrysoldpennies]

That's a tuff one , I would think it must depend on the individual coin, and just how much the degree of wear damage or corrosion affects the overall appeal of the coin.  And as to whether the type indicators can be seen clearly.   Terry

[Rob]

Depends entirely on the coin. If you have a choice of one pierced and the other with a bit missing off the edge, do you cut off your nose to spite your face and refuse to have either, or decide which one is more attractive to you? Given the former means you can never fill the spot, I presume that the decision will ultimately depend on how driven you are to complete, and in that case it probably doesn't  matter which one you have,

[IanB]

If the decision was go for the higher grade and except some kind of fault, would there be a scale of which fault trumped the other? So for example would verdigris be preferred over cleaning or would corrosion be worse than dipping?

[jacinbox]

I would prefer a 1933 penny in poor grade over any other penny in UNC

[IanB]

I thought Pete had a few of those spare that he was going to sell off. £30 including postage 

[jaggy]

34 minutes ago, jacinbox said:

I would prefer a 1933 penny in poor grade over any other penny in UNC

Clearly it would depend on just how rare the coin is. In my experience there are very few coins in my area of interest that are so rare that I would have to snap one up no matter what the grade, condition or price. 

I play a 'long game' with my collecting which means that if I have to wait a few years for the right example of a specific coin/date then I will. In the meantime, there are plenty of other coins to keep me happy.

[PWA 1967]

For the lunatics of the forum ....Wafer biscuits and vimto will be served in ten minutes.

Happy hour medication will be round on a trolley soon.

Can we get back to sensible answers 

[Colin G.]

Wouldn't particularly bother me, for research purposes I would rather have the higher grade with faults, however I do inevitably end up trying to replace these with a fault free example with time, but like Jaggy I have given up rushing...good things come to those who wait 

[Nordle11]

Haha  

I would prefer a lesser grade coin over one verd or corrosion. 

[Nordle11]

4 minutes ago, jaggy said:

Clearly it would depend on just how rare the coin is. In my experience there are very few coins in my area of interest that are so rare that I would have to snap one up no matter what the grade, condition or price. 

I play a 'long game' with my collecting which means that if I have to wait a few years for the right example of a specific coin/date then I will. In the meantime, there are plenty of other coins to keep me happy.

I think the point is that there are only 2 options. If there is a gap in your collection for a specific year, and only 2 examples were struck that year, one has a big spot of verd on it but in UNC and the other is problem free and in VF, both also cost £10, for example, which would you choose...

[jaggy]

1 minute ago, Nordle11 said:

I think the point is that there are only 2 options. If there is a gap in your collection for a specific year, and only 2 examples were struck that year, one has a big spot of verd on it but in UNC and the other is problem free and in VF, both also cost £10, for example, which would you choose...

I would probably go for the VF.

[PWA 1967]

3 minutes ago, Nordle11 said:

I think the point is that there are only 2 options. If there is a gap in your collection for a specific year, and only 2 examples were struck that year, one has a big spot of verd on it but in UNC and the other is problem free and in VF, both also cost £10, for example, which would you choose...

Sorry Matt.

Just spelling it out for Jac (Gary)with a crayon but says he will reply later 

[Nordle11]

7 minutes ago, jaggy said:

I would probably go for the VF.

Ditto, the other would put me off too much every time I looked at it!

[secret santa]

Good question - the 1882 (no H) penny in the next LCA begs that question - it's nastily corroded and edge-knocked but its detail is quite good.

[Colin G.]

1 hour ago, Nordle11 said:

I think the point is that there are only 2 options. If there is a gap in your collection for a specific year, and only 2 examples were struck that year, one has a big spot of verd on it but in UNC and the other is problem free and in VF, both also cost £10, for example, which would you choose...

How big is "big"...

[Charlie]

I would certainly pick a problem free, lesser grade example. 

I've learned from the few mistakes when I first started collecting of buying higher grade, blast white silver coins, of which upgrades to these have actually been slightly lower grade, but nice natural toning and far better eye appeal.  

Also, a copper half penny with nice detail.. but big black blotchy marks. 

I've learned to look at  the eye appeal of a coin as a whole, rather than focusing too hard on grade. 

[mrbadexample]

Lower grade for me too. Because then I would be thinking, "I've only seen one in a higher grade than this, but it had xxxx wrong with it".

[jacinbox]

3 hours ago, PWA 1967 said:

For the lunatics of the forum ....Wafer biscuits and vimto will be served in ten minutes.

Happy hour medication will be round on a trolley soon.

Can we get back to sensible answers 

Hennessy and ginger ale please! Richard's question about the 1882 penny is a classic. I would go for it at the right price, though the coin is a stinker for it will definitely plug a gap in my collection. The same can be said about the crosslet 1864.

Edited February 29, 2016 by jacinbox

[TomGoodheart]

45 minutes ago, Charlie said:

I've learned to look at  the eye appeal of a coin as a whole, rather than focusing too hard on grade. 

This.  Eye appeal for me is everything these days.  If I don't like the look of it I will inevitably want to get rid of it further down the line.  For example I just exchanged a very rare coin (3 known) for a lesser rarity (perhaps as many as 20 examples) because I couldn't live with it any more.

Neither is a 'perfect' coin, not by a long shot.  Almost no hammered coins are!  But I like the look of my new acquisition and can see myself happy with it for some time to come.

As to a scale, well, it's really difficult to generalise.  Better grade coins usually appeal more, but 'faults' will count against it.

It's possible that in my head there's a system of awarding plus and minus points (nice toning/ good portrait/ full flan, plus.  Cleaned, blotchy/ poor or weak portrait/lopsided strike/ small flan, minuses) but I've tried in the past to summarise it in words and failed.  When it comes down to it, it's really a matter of looking at two coins and, almost inevitably, one will stand out as my preference.

And as Jaggy says.  I'm generally prepared to wait to fill a gap.  While I may stray, my aim is never to buy crap again and I'd rather have a gap for years than something that I can't bear to look at... however rare.

Edited February 29, 2016 by TomGoodheart

[PWA 1967]

Yes Gary its a tricky question some i think we just accept the fact we will never get one perfect ,so unless its really horrible just buy what we can.

It just makes me think if i sometimes would sooner leave a gap or have one lower grade.

Anyway time you got escorted to your rubber room......Good night 

Only Joking Pete 

[Rob]

I think I've already nailed my colours to the mast.

http://

[PWA 1967]

I assume that one is rare Rob ?

Therefore is there not much if anything better ?.