Dearest Smeagol,
Regardless of whether or not your Precious was a good economic value in itself, the "first step" education you gained in its pursuit was priceless.
I apologize for being the Johnny Come Lately to this posting chain, but I was greatly impressed by your ability to ask yourself logical questions, seek the answers from a bunch of willing sources, then advance to the next step. I promise you that every one of us tripped, skidded and stumbled along this same muddy path to CC collecting knowledge. Please allow me to tip my hat to you for your honest, introspective approach.
Ugly Coins vs Warn Coins
Eye appeal is hugely important. Coin that are stained, too darkly toned, scratched, graffiti ridden etc are known in the coin collecting world as "Drek" ...Yiddish for crap and several nastier words. If you don't like the way the coin looks, trust your gut...don't buy it. No price discount can add luster or remove scratches and detracting dings.
Personally, I love very warn coins with no problems. That is, coins that have retained their original surfaces (ever been cleaned) do not have scratches, dings or other detractions. Such a coin can be very handsome, in my opinion. Please allow me to put my money where my mouth is...
At the August C4OA gathering in Carson City this year, I shared a collection with fellow members that I had been working on for some time. It's a "Single Digit" Carson City coin collection. Every coin in the collection is graded VG-8 (single digit) or less by NGC or PCGS. None had damage designations, in fact, I have worked very hard to collect examples with as original a surface condition as possible. In other words, just pure wear.
Beer Budget
Just because the single digit collection is made up of fairly inexpensive, low grade coins does not mean it's been easy to complete. In fact, many denomination/dates are more difficult to find below VG-10 then they are in mint state!
At this time, I have 45, single digit Carson City dates. Below, is a photo of my 1870-CC 25c which resides in a PCGS AG-3 holder. To me, the coin is very handsome. It has no problems, just plain honest wear.
Keep up the exploration and intelligent, self diagnosis. You'll make a great coin collector if you stick to it and stay away from E Bay and some other dens of iniquity that your C4OA friends will warn you about.
All my best...Belay Off
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