Cherrypicking is the practice of buying an overlooked coin for less than the coin is worth because the buyer sees some detail about the coin that the seller missed. For example, a collector who is an expert in Morgan Dollar varieties called VAMs might pay the normal MS-63 price for a coin that he knows is worth $200 more because it is a rare die variety. Because the seller isn't a VAM expert, the buyer is able to "cherrypick" the coin from him.
Another type of cherrypick happens when a collector buys a bulk lot of unsorted coins at minimal value (such as the "junk" silver U.S. coins which are sold by weight) and then he finds an overlooked rarity in the lot. A highly publicized example of this sort of cherrypick was the 1893-S Morgan Dollar that collector Dave Lembke found in some piles of $7 to $9 Morgan Dollars. Dave turned his $7 investment into a $3,150 sale because the very rare 1893-S had been overlooked among some low-grade Morgans.
The thrill of the hunt is what motivates most coin collectors, whether it's looking for that diamond in the rough in someone's junk box, or just trying track down the perfect specimen at a great price to add to your collection. In this article, some readers share their best cherrypicks. When you're done reading everyone else's, you can submit your own cherrypicking success!
Cherrypicking Some Indian Cents
A reader named "dickfee" says:
Some years ago I was assembling a set of XF/AU Indian cents and at a major show asked different dealers about their stock of this condition. One dealer stated he had just purchased over 100 such coins and offered me my choice at 10% over his buy price. I selected 6 coins and paid his price. I later had the group graded and placed in slabs by one of the firms eBay allows - with the following result - 1 @ MS64, 2 @ MS62 (including an 1864L), 1 @ AU58, 1@ AU55 and the last @ AU50. (Learn more about what these coin grades mean.)
An eBay Error Coin Cherrypick
Partick S. did something after his great cherrypick that I bet most collectors would never do...
Last year I bought an error coin on eBay. I had the coin certified and graded. I paid $14.00 for the coin. I sold the coin for $985.00 to a dealer. I sent the seller a check for $400.00 and told him about the whole deal. I also explained to him why I did it and that if he was going to be in this business he should educate himself. I still made a good chunk of change and the seller sent me several other errors in the mail later.
Another Error Coin Cherrypick
Donn Pearlman, a prominent collector, shares a couple of his great cherrypicks:
Years ago at a coin show I saw several Lincoln cents in a dealer's display case, each labeled as "off center" mint errors and priced at $5 each. But one obviously to me was more than that, and I bought it for five bucks. It was a cent struck on a dime planchet, worth about $150 at the time. When I purchased it from the dealer — for $5 — I restrained myself from asking, "Can you do any better on the price..."
Another time at a coin show I found a 1787 Connecticut copper in a dealer's $2 "junk box." He must have thought it was a foreign coin because the mottos on Connecticuts are in Latin. It was worth about $30 at the time I bought it.
Checking the Holes in the Coin Folders...
David P. shares a good score he made by being observant (and offers a tip for the eagle-eyed collector):
I like to trawl for slightly misplaced items on eBay because the items are often being sold by people who don't really know what they have. Many people list partially-completed coin collections in a certain place, complete with blurry photos of what they are trying to sell. Because I have studied the placement of the holes in the
Whitman folders, even if the photo is blurry I can tell what the coins should be based on which holes are filled. This isn't always foolproof; sometimes people mistakenly place coins in the wrong holes or place obvious fakes there (as "fillers") but oftentimes I will decide my bid based on which holes are filled even when the photo is too blurry to read the dates. One of my best scores of this type was finding a nice VF 1914-D penny in a sparsely-filled blue Whitman folder for which I paid $9.50 plus $3 shipping. I sent the penny to NGC and got it slabbed VF-35 which makes it worth about $800.
Share Your Cherrypicking Story
If you'd like to share your own cherrypicking success, submit your story below. You (and thousands of other collectors) might be reading about your success in my weekly About Coins newsletter soon!