Recent purchase story.

[BottleCapDave 6]

Is it normal to expect an underpriced coin with no pictures to have major detractors even though described as BUNC, nothing else noted?

Recently bought a 1935 'rocking horse' crown described as BUNC from a dealer regularly advertised in Coin News magazine. Basic website coinlist, no pictures, a column in the listings for notes. Did not have Spink catalogue on me during work lunch break...

Received coin but noticeable hairlines across both obv. and rev. and multidirectional hairlines on some of the fields. Clearly a cleaned coin. I bought it for £24 excl. postage. Spink says £40 in BU.

Is this normal practice to expect the buyer to know a coins worth before hand and to expect major detractors such as these if underpriced? Surely can't be described as BUNC if it has been cleaned.

Just rather disappointed after the usual long January. I don't enjoy purchasing twice having small monthly budget for my collection.

[Paddy 1,720]

If no pictures are presented, you ought to be able to rely on the expertise of the vendor, but there are no guarantees. If described as BUnc, you would expect pretty much perfect condition. After a while one learns which dealers to trust and which not.

A list without pictures sounds a bit like Mr Ingram and son?

 

[BottleCapDave 6]

28 minutes ago, Paddy said:

If no pictures are presented, you ought to be able to rely on the expertise of the vendor, but there are no guarantees. If described as BUnc, you would expect pretty much perfect condition. After a while one learns which dealers to trust and which not.

A list without pictures sounds a bit like Mr Ingram and son?

 

Funny that R.Ingram is on my naughty list, one of my first ever coin orders. But no, this was another dealer. I try not to name and shame unless it has already been mentioned. But should I be naming and shaming, general consensus?

In my head BUNC with nothing else noted should mean as it is. I agree.

I think I will stick to pictured listings with clear images from now on. Even then I have to watch out for duplicate images and generic stock photos. Disappointment hit me hard this week.

Edited February 5, 2024 by BottleCapDave

[PWA 1967 2,135]

Even buying from pictures can sometimes hide cleaning and not be a true likeness of the coin in hand and we rely on an honest description ,yes i agree it is however much better with pictures unless your buying off a dealer who you can trust to describe and grade correctly.

Just post it back for a refund and perhaps next time phone them up first to confirm the coin is problem free before buying ,or dont buy from them again 👍

Edited February 6, 2024 by PWA 1967

[Menger 88]

3 hours ago, PWA 1967 said:

 

Even buying from pictures can sometimes hide cleaning and not be a true likeness of the coin in hand and we rely on an honest description ,yes i agree it is however much better with pictures unless your buying off a dealer who you can trust to describe and grade correctly.

 

Agreed. Similarly, auction houses have a patina of reputation, which presumably they are keen to maintain in their lot descriptions as justification to the sellers for the premiums they charge. I am usually more likely to buy TPG graded for the same reason (as I always buy over distance) and crack them out on arrival if they are keepers. None of these methods are risk free though. Only risk management. It can be a perilous hobby. 🤣

Edited February 6, 2024 by Menger

[PWA 1967 2,135]

48 minutes ago, Menger said:

Agreed. Similarly, auction houses have a patina of reputation, which presumably they are keen to maintain in their lot descriptions as justification to the sellers for the premiums they charge. I am usually more likely to buy TPG graded for the same reason (as I always buy over distance) and crack them out on arrival if they are keepers. None of these methods are risk free though. Only risk management. It can be a perilous hobby. 🤣

Coin fairs are without doubt the best and forming your own opinion seeing the coin in hand. ,then if you take the coin home and not happy you can only blame yourself 😀.

 

[copper123 1,485]

9 hours ago, PWA 1967 said:

Coin fairs are without doubt the best and forming your own opinion seeing the coin in hand. ,then if you take the coin home and not happy you can only blame yourself 😀.

 

The one exception can be that rare variety you find after years of looking and just buy on impulse - you tend to only look carefully when you get home...

[Sword 1,471]

Buying an unphotographed coin is always going to be pot luck. I would assume that such a coin has got defects if the price is lower than the going rate. If none of the coins photographed on a dealer's website are bargains, then I don't expect to find a bargain within the unphotographed ones either. BUNC could still have edge knocks, ugly contact marks, etc. I agree it is very annoying to buy a coin remotely only to realise that you would never have brought it in person. For that reason, I would rather miss out on a potential bargain than to risk getting annoyed afterwards.

I once brought a pair of slabbed MS62 coins from LCA unseen. I took a gamble because they added "with exceptional eye appeal" to the auction description. That turned out quite well.

[Peckris 2 2,127]

Return it, get a refund.

[SilverAge3 80]

On 2/8/2024 at 5:22 PM, Peckris 2 said:

Return it, get a refund.

Agreed.

Even if they try to argue it's excessive cabinet friction (ha), that's not within orbit of BU any longer.

Personally I would like to know who the seller is, as all of my purchases are remote, there just isn't any local cache of coins I usually buy. I am in the states, and do buy from overseas, both in UK and elsewhere, but not always privy to which sellers on ebay or which dealer/auction sites are best avoided. But I get why you're not trying to put them on blast, all the same. 

Edited February 21, 2024 by SilverAge3