GoldFinger1969

Happy Bidding !!

I know....he's written 1 book as best I can tell and I see no articles in the various coin and numismatic circles. Yet he's somehow referred to as a numismatic expert. I only do that when the Mets blow games in the 9th inning !!

I will....looks like Sotheby's will be auctioning off the 1933 Saint (again). Sure hope I don't have to see Tripp's face on TV leading up to the auction.

I know they are doing an expanding business in comics, art, minerals, memorabillia, etc.....but dollar-volume still has to be heavily skewed to coins and currency. It's where they have their most expensive items, most items, and most frequent auctions. I may tell them to bring copies of the book next time to FUN. I think they'd sell a few and it would alert some folks who don't know about the book (not on Amazon) and don't frequent the Heritage website.

Are you in touch with Heritage from time-to-time about the book ? If so, they should have the book come up in pop-up ads to ANYBODY who looks for and/or bids on a Saint-Gaudens coin on their website. Anybody buying any Saint, esepcially semi-scarce and up, would certainly have an interest in an expenditure of an additional $100 to have this wealth of knowledge at their disposal.

Look up the recent sales or offer prices for common stuff on Ebay and/or HA. For the most part, if an AU58 or Mint State grade doesn't reach $20, it isn't worth even considering. Better to BUY those notes than get 'em graded and submit.

ACCIDENTALLY stepped into an acid bath ? How the heck do you "accidentally" do that ?

Unfortunately, aside from these message boards, no. The coins remain at Fort Knox until I can get them out.

There are some interesting comments following the article. Harvey Stack enters in and I chimed in a few thoughts (most of which I posted above in various posts). Anyway, good additional reading if you liked the article, as I did.

Clearly, the dimensions are off. Good job, Sharann.

Pat's, King Of Steaks......I have to meet Gazzo on some business.

(1) Is it true that gold coins were strewn around the floors of vault cages at the Philadelphia Mint ? (2) Amazing that with all that attention to detail for microscopic amounts of gold, that the entire bag of 1928 Saints (250 ounces) got stolen.

Some guys talking about it in one of those Reddit channels. Maybe Roger or another Peace Dollar expert wants to chime in ?

It LOOKS like a Liberty Type I, II, or III Double Eagle.....NO IDEA which one it is because of the excessive wear. Sharann, do you have a digital scale (they're like $40 on Amazon) ? Curious to see what the weight is. Regardless of the terrible condition, it still might be worth close to 1 ounce of gold. Of course, if a bunch of other coins are buried nearby for whatever reason, we may have a hoard.

I'm not an expert on pricing, but what are you asking ? If additional fees for a COA are worth something ? I don't think actual sales prices usually includes this. Sometimes its necessary, sometimes its not. Where is the monopolistic behavior entering into it ?

I haven't watched PAWN STARS much lately but didn't realize they brought in actual NGC folks. Interesting..... Ultimately, you can't argue with actual sales prices, from Heritage, GC, or other places. I would throw out Ebay and Etsy and other sites that aren't frequented by numismatists and serious coin collectors.

Most VALUABLE coins are graded because at some point buyers become sellers and the market is higher and deeper and larger for graded, certified coins. With all the problems that the TPGs bring in terms of grading standards, they are INFINITELY BETTER than no-standards which is what you have when dealers self-grade.

Then wouldn't it be appropriate to just look up the date and mintmark ? If the VAM isn't that important, it probably doesn't add much value, no ?

You mean from the last few years ? Probably just people bidding higher for the "newness" factor or even cool labels.

Check out recent auction sales in the last year.

Here's a timeline that may be of interest: March 2nd, 1933: 1st 1933 Saint-Gaudens DEs are struck. The official Mint records and most previous sources do NOT cite March 2nd as the date of first striking, but March 15th. Roger Burdette uncovered this discrepancy from a letter dated 1945. March 4th: FDR sworn in as president March 5th: Last official gold shipment to Federal Reserve banks leaves the Mint March 6th: Treasury Secretary Woodin (a coin collector) orders Mint Director Robert J. Grant to not "pay out" any more gold. Grant complies, with an addendum: ".....this does not prohibit the deposit of gold and the usual payment thereof." March 7th: A wire is sent from an Asst Attorney General stating that Mint personnel could continue exchanging gold coins for gold coins. March 15th: A letter is sent by Acting Director Mary M. O'Reilly (Mint Director Robert J. Grant was on leave) informing Lewis Froman of Buffalo, NY that he could deposit gold bullion directly at the Mint in exchange for gold coin because it "....neither increases nor depletes the stock of gold in the Treasury." April 5th: FDR's Executive Order 6102 goes into effect. April 12th: Last "legal" day to participate in coin-for-coin exchanges. May(?)-June(?) - An entire bag (250) of 1928 Saint-Gaudens DEs is stolen from the Philly Mint vault. The bag appears to have been stolen at the same time that 1933 Saints were placed in the vault.

Away from The Mob and back to The Saints ......this is an excerpt from Bowers book from R.W. Julian on the famous "Froman Letter": “…..The Bureau of the Mint (BOM) wrote Lewis Froman of Buffalo, NY indicating that gold bullion could be deposited and that it would be paid for by the mint in gold. The letter, which was signed by Acting Director Mary M. O’Reilly in the absence of Director Robert J. Grant, noted that in this way ‘such a transaction neither increases nor depletes the stock of gold in the Treasury.” According to accounts during the trial: "Tripp characterized a March 7, 1933, wire from an assistant attorney general that said Mint supervisors could continue exchanging gold for gold coins as an orphan document. When asked to describe an orphan document, Tripp said it was akin to presenting only one side of a conversation, and to treat it with caution."

Never mind...it was Joey Merlino.

There was some younger "made man" or Mafia bigwig in Philly who used to hang out with Philadelphia Flyers star Eric Lindross -- who was that guy ? Anybody ? I didn't have access to the internet then, as I recall the guy told the media to back off Lindross he was just a fan of the teams.

I saw the cop cars heading for 46th Street as I headed back down to 42nd Street where I worked (the old Grace Building). Figured it was just another crime. Then I got home later that night and watched all the local news at 10 PM and 11 PM and wow.