Not long ago I posted My Collector Profile and expressed my affinity towards type collecting. Subsequently, I reviewed my entire collection for coins I could sell, and with the proceeds I bought several coins that I am really excited about.

As a part of that review, I looked to upgrade a few circulated gold coins to mint-state condition. The first was an Indian eagle from XF-40 to MS-63 and the other an Indian Head half-eagle from AU-55 to MS-62. Finally, I upgraded a type-2 gold dollar from AU-50 to AU-58.

The other part of my review involved doubles and coins I no longer collect. Of the coins I no longer collect were a 2011 Silver American Eagle anniversary set and a 2008 reverse of 07 SAE. Years ago I lost interest in SAEs and sold most of the SAEs I owned. However, I held onto the reverse of 07 just in case I ever decided to start collecting SAEs again. Today, I saw this coin as an opportunity to buy something I really want. Thus, I sold the coin at roughly double the price I bought it.

With the 2011 SAE anniversary set I got caught up in the hype, first purchasing it directly from the mint and then turning around to have it graded by NGC. Out of five coins graded, only two came back as 70s, but of those two coins the one was the reverse proof. Now, as with the reverse of 07, I saw selling these coins as an opportunity to buy the coins I really wanted. Incidentally, I more than doubled my money on this set also.

In the past when it came to selling coins, I have either sold the coins myself on E-Bay, traded or sold coins with another collector, or consigned the coins to an auction. This time however, I decided to sell the coins through NGC Collectors Society user Yankeejoses E-Bay store. In the end, I thought I got the best price possible on E-Bay for the coins I sold.

With the price of gold reasonably low, I am selling the circulated gold coins I bought before the price of gold rose to over $1000/oz in order to buy the higher grade coins I prefer. Though the current market interest in my circulated gold coins is not what I would have liked, I can still sell the three aforementioned coins for a small combined profit.

Over the years I found that MS gold coins perform a lot better than circulated coins when the price of gold goes higher. Thus, I feel that in todays market higher grade gold coins are somewhat of a bargain which in part is the reason I am upgrading these select coins now.

Even still, there are other gold coins in my collection that I'd like to upgrade. However, Ill have to wait on those because I bought them when the price of gold was much higher. One option is to buy the higher grade coins now and hold onto the others to sell at a later date. The problem is that I dont currently have the financial resources to pursue this option. Notwithstanding, I may yet decide to do this, but for now upgrading MS-62s to MS-63 and perhaps 64 is not a high priority.

Unfortunately, most gold coins grading MS-63 and below have low eye appeal. The problem much like with Morgan Dollars is contact marks and hairlines. When it comes to nice looking common date gold coins figure on grades north of MS-64 with a price tag to match. On other coins such as the type 2 gold dollar you're looking at a hefty price tag for any mint state coin. Thus my new gold coins are about the best I can afford in terms of eye appeal and grade.

Type 2 gold dollars are notorious for being poorly struck and the coin I bought is no exception. The advantage I gained by upgrading my previous coin is in a little more frosty luster on the reverse devices. On the obverse the legend is especially weak but there is a little more detail in Libertys hair just above her eyebrow. Furthermore, there is frosty luster in the protected areas of Libertys head piece.

Both the 2 1/2 and 5 dollar Indian Head gold pieces look nice to me in lower mint-state grades. The incuse devices distract my eyes from any significant marks in the fields, especially on the coins obverse. Thus, I am very happy with an MS-62 example of the half-eagle I bought that goes up significantly in value in grades MS-63 and higher.

The Indian Head eagle suffers from being larger and heavier. Since the coin is much larger and the fields are more open, contact marks are more critical to this coin's eye appeal. The MS-63 eagle I bought gives me value in that the marks for the grade are not significant enough to be distracting even though I could have bought an MS-64 example of this coin.

I will talk about my other purchases at length in part two of this post. Until then, happy collecting!

Gary

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