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You usually hear about all the ways to upgrade your coin sets, and that’s because it’s usually the case that collectors want to elevate the grades of their coins to enhance the overall grade of their collection. And when it comes to most PCGS Registry Sets, upgrading can generally increase the odds of owning the top set and possibly scoring an award or other recognition for the upgraded set.
But this begs the question: is there ever a reason to downgrade a coin set? That is, swap out or sell off coins for examples that grade lower than the pieces you sold? You bet! And not only is this far more common than many might believe, there are at least three really good reasons why you might find yourself downgrading your coin sets.
Downgrading A Coin Set to Pay for Life Expenses
Let’s face it. Life is expensive! There are bills to pay, mouths to feed, and insurance to keep. But what do you do if your only ready liquid asset is your coin collection but you want to keep collecting coins? One way to enjoy the best of both worlds is to downgrade your set to coins of lower grades, selling off the high-end ones for lower-grade pieces and using the extra money to pay down your bills and debt.
Think about it… A complete date-and-mintmark set of Mercury Dimes in XF40 has a value of about $12,100 according to the PCGS Price Guide. But a still-attractive complete date-and-mintmark set of Mercury Dimes in G4 goes for $2,400. Even accounting for dealer buy prices ranging from 50% to 75% of listed retail prices, you could still own a complete date-and-mintmark set of circulated Mercury Dimes and net several thousand dollars for paying those expenses from selling the hypothetical, better-graded XF40 set.
Moving Onto A New Set While Keeping a Semblance of the Old
So many times we collectors will finish one set only to move onto a new one. In fact, not only is that common, but many numismatists would say that’s a healthy trait – to keep pursuing new objectives and goals. Many times collectors simply trade in an already completed set to fund the building of a new one. But what happens when you need money to build a new set but don’t want to sell the old one?
Maybe it’s time to compromise!
It’s totally possible to enjoy the variety of designs, completion of dates and mintmarks, or some other element of the finished set while using the equity in the completed set to help pay for a new numismatic adventure. And this is where downgrading the set to a state where it is still complete but with lower-graded coins might just be the answer.
Going for a Low Ball Set
There’s one area of coin collecting where hobbyists go for as low a grade as they can find, and that’s the low ball coin collection. The goal? Not a perfect 70, but rather a 1. Yes – just 1. It’s remarkably difficult to find coins that grade Poor-1 (PO01), Fair-2 (FR02), or About Good-3 (AG03), especially in the case of sets like Franklin Half Dollars, Eisenhower Dollars, or Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles. In some cases, coins in the very lowest two or three grade points actually retail for more than those in the next five to 10 grade points – that’s how scarce some of these low-grading coins (with only simple, honest wear) really are.
But if you have a complete (or nearly so) set of coins in more widely traded grades – say the mid-level circulated to lower range Mint State spectrum – then you might find it more challenging, and perhaps even more rewarding, to trade those rather “ordinary” coins in for low-graded examples that could make great competitors in a low ball set. And believe it or not there are many low ball categories in the PCGS Set Registry!
Whatever You Do…
No matter what coins you downgrade or why, don’t forget to do your due diligence in how you go about this, and make sure it’s the right time to sell. First of all, avoid sacrificing quality and eye appeal. There are so many nice-looking, if well-circulated, coins out there with phenomenal eye appeal, color, and strike for their grade. You don’t have to have all top-tier uncirculated or proof coins to have a “nice looking” collection.
When selling coins, remember to factor into the equation how much a dealer will pay for your coins, not necessarily what a retail price guide says your coin is worth. Do the math – trading a set of coins worth, say $6,000 on the PCGS Price Guide with the aims of building a set listed at $3,000 will not guarantee you a $3,000 net windfall. You might net only a few hundred dollars in such a transaction beyond the cost of repurchasing the same set in a lower overall grade. So be thoughtful about whether or not downgrading a coin set – especially if you hope to net a notable amount of cash from the deal – makes sense for you. Ensure you can clear what you need to repurchase a lower-graded version of the same set, net the cash you hope to earn from the deal, and still not regret the whole thing.
And no matter what, when buying those lower-grade coins, make sure they are encapsulated by PCGS. No matter the grade, regardless of the set, you want to ensure the coins you have are authentic, accurately graded, and of the highest quality you can get. Nothing beats the peace of mind in owning a PCGS-graded coin, whether it grades MS70 or PO01!