Text 631, 74 rader
Skriven 2009-10-18 16:06:52 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
    Kommentar till text 615 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Real coins and junk
===========================
18 Oct 09 09:39, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:

 RB> Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Saturday October 17 2009 at 18:16:

 RB>>> Try and buy a gold double eagle - face value $20 - nowadays. It
 RB>>> contains nearly an ounce of gold (at the time gold was selling at
 RB>>> $20.67 an ounce) and the metal alone is now worth around $1050.

 RW>> I have two of those. An 1898 and a 1907. They were worth $650 each
 RW>> when I aquired them in the late 80s and gold was about there too. If
 RW>> the coin is worth $650 and the gold is selling for $1050, doesn't
 RW>> that make the coin worth somewhere in the ballpark of $1700?

 RB> Depends on the condition and the mint.

Of course.

 RB> The 2009 Red Book (which gives you a ballpark figure, but is NOT
 RB> binding) lists the 1898 double eagle in gem uncirculatied condition
 RB> (MS-63) at $4,500 and the 1898-S at $1,550. In normal uncirculated
 RB> state (MS-60) the figures are $1,650 and $1,150, respectively.

 RB> The figure for the 1907 double eagle (are you sure of the date?) is
 RB> high, but depends on the exact type. This was the first date of
 RB> minting of the St. Gaudens type, and there are varieties with a Roman
 RB> numeral date, an Arabic numeral date, with high relief and with a
 RB> flat rim. The prices range from $1,500 to $25,000 in MS-63 state, and
 RB> in normal uncirculated (MS-60) state from $1,100 to $16,500.

After reading this, I had to take a look. The coin I thought was a 1907
is a 1908 Saint without the "In God We Trust" motto. thegoldcoinstore.com
rates its value at $1841. It doesn't have a scratch on it and looks to be
Gem BU65. I don't find a mint mark on it, so I assume it was minted at the
Philadelphia mint. Too bad it isn't a Denver minted coin, as it would be
worth about ten grand.

The other gold coin is an 1891-s and in the same condition as the 1908
coin. www.collectorsinternet.com only goes as high as BU64 and their value
is $4900. Side by side, it doesn't seem as bright as the 1908 Saint.

 RB> Lower grades bring _significantly_ lower prices.

 RB> I'd advise you to see a professional numismatist on those. You might
 RB> start by looking at Stacks:

 RB> http://www.stacks.com/

 RB> And the ANA (American Numismatic Association) can help too.

 RB>>> More's the pity, I might add.

 RW>> They're just coins.

 RB> For me they're history.

 RW>> When a bunch of them are melted down for their metal content, then
 RW>> the remaining coins will be worth even more.

 RB> Very true, and in fact this has happened many times in the US series.
 RB> That's why early gold and silver coins are so rare - many were melted
 RB> down when the parity of gold and silver changed to make that
 RB> profitable - and the same holds true for many of the later Peace
 RB> Dollars.

In Las Vegas they used the silver dollars for tokens in the $1 one armed
bandits. They were painted red so that the house could identify their
in-house stash. Eventually they disappeared from the scene, but the $1 one
armed bandits now take paper.

                R\%/itt

    You can put lipstick on a pig, but the pig still stinks!
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