To find wild or to buy....

[jlr1076]

I'd love to get everyone's take on finding coins in the wild vs. purchasing them at a coin shop. Obviously I'm talking more about the collecting side of CRH than the silver hunting side...

For me, nothing beats the thrill of finding my first variety of a coin in the wild, either through change or CRHing. But I've broke down and bought some from a coin shop - including my first Indian Head cent (ironically, I found one in the wild literally two days later) and my first silver quarter (have yet to find one of those).

The thrill obviously isn't the same... and part of me in feels like it's "cheating" (although who am I cheating against? myself?) Anyway, would love to hear other people's thoughts.

 

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[db23]

Find and Buy!

Nothing can beat finding at FV or in a reject tray. If you can get a good enough deal though, I'm not against buying. I just bought $25 FV (Quarters and dimes) from a bank manager for ~ $70 under spot last week. I think he has another $45 FV of the same that I plan on buying too.

 

[Generic_Lad]

I do a bit of both, generally when I go to the coin shop I go for older style coins (I always pick up a few low-grade Standing Liberties for melt) that are rare to find CRHing or higher grade coins that are hard to find CRHing (silver proofs, AU/MS Walkers, etc.). Personally, I only buy attractive coins at the coin shop, and leave the ugly silver to CRHing (washington quarters, roosevelt dimes, kennedy halves, Bens, etc.).

After all, since with silver prices you can get old style coins at melt, who wants a Washington Quarter when a Barber or Standing Liberty is just as cheap?