GoldFinger1969

On 1/19/2023 at 6:27 PM, EagleRJO said:

From the original post a coin marked BU or brilliant uncirculated would need to have no indications of rub marks or wear, particularly at the high points of the coin which includes mostly around the top of the head on the obverse as well as the eagles head and feathers on the reverse.

As I understand it.....BU would be low-60's MS......Choice UNC would be MS-63.....Gem UNC would be MS-65....and Superb Gem would be MS-67.

That's how the old terminology was equated to actual numerical grades once the TPGs got involved.

On 1/19/2023 at 2:09 PM, RKOL said:

I got the amateur collecting bug from my dad. I've kept the coins he passed down to me directly and used those as a base to start collecting with my daughter, but we're just having fun with it, not serious investors. Most of his coins were things he pulled out of old coffee cans filled with change, some neat pieces though.
These other coins were kept in a safe deposit box that the family has just cleared out, and the plan is to sell this stuff off. Since I've got the most experience, the job fell to me. It's good to know that if this Morgan sells in the $50 range that I'm not letting something super valuable slip through my fingers.

Nothing wrong with keeping a coin with sentimental value either, RKOL.  Something to be said for that if it's a coin your dad treasured.  It's yours now....can be your daughters down the line. 

Came Across An Interesting (and confusing) Section in the Liberty Head DE book.....it appears, at least in the 1850's (that's what I am up to )...that when rarities were discovered after-the-fact...that you could sometimes get Mint officials to retrieve the old dies and re-strike NEW ones ?

Did I read and understand that section correctly ? 

It also appears they may have mixed-and-matched:  created new "coins" with obverse/reverse combinations that weren't the original pairing.  

This appears to be not so much for Double Eagles but for the smaller denomination coins of the day.  Might have included DEs...I'm still reading.  And maybe it was just a 1-time thing as opposed to happened every now-and-then.  Anyway, it was so bizarre and noteworthy I though it best to stop what I was doing and ask it now before I forgot.

Feel free to enlighten me....

Yeah, those are clearer.  Like the others said, probably doesn't affect the grade we see and the resulting value.

The GSA Morgans could be worth something -- should be a few hundred bucks or so.

Is your or your family's goal to sell everything or keep the top-notch stuff ?  Are you into collecting ?

Saw a bearish article in BARRON'S saying that copper could fall to about $3.20 a pound from the recent (at the time of printing in early-January) $3.85.  Copper has actually gone UP since then I believe.

Long-term, I like the metal.

On 1/18/2023 at 3:45 PM, RKOL said:

My father collected coins back in the 70s and 80s and my family are going through them after years of having them sit in storage.

Any other notable finds ?  Was your father an active/avid coin collector or did he just buy a few here-and-there in the manias of the 1970's and 1980's ?

I wonder if any of his are TPG certified (in a PCGS or NGC or ANACS/ICG holder).

If you come across any rarer coins like Morgans or gold ones, let us know !   We're happy to help.

They still look blurry....do you have the anti-shake feature on your smartphone or digital camera enabled ?  Otherwise, use a very small tripod.

I'm the worst photographer around, and I use my smartphone with all default settings....here's a Morgan (in a holder) that I took a while back doing what I told you (30 degrees, lighting a bit away, no glare).

On 1/19/2023 at 8:08 AM, J P M said:

No matter what you do taking a shot of a coin in a 2x2 is hard to see the fields on the coin. The coin is nice but no way to know for sure of the quality with the plastic over it.

Yup........I assumed he was taking it OUT of the 2x2.

On 1/19/2023 at 9:03 AM, EarlyUS.com said:

Looks like an old thread got resurrected.  I feel like many posts underrate the value of the Redbook to some extent with regard to pricing.  I actually DO use it to price most coins, but then again, most of what I deal with is common issues.  For example, I take prices straight out of the Redbook for things like middle-grade common Indian cents and buffalo nickels, and even the common Seated coins.  But I would never use it to price a Choice BU draped bust half-dollar!   I also purchase coins by simply discounting against the same Redbook prices I'd charge for those coins.

The Bluebook has zero value to me in any arena.

It's better than NOTHING but given that decades ago it and magazines were the only printed coin prices (besides CDN), today you have the ability to see sales in real-time on the Internet.

Before gold and silver floated in price (~1973), a Red Book was probably pretty accurate for prices for YEARS....unless something happened like with the 1904-O Morgan Silver Dollars in the early-1960's.

On 1/18/2023 at 4:42 PM, World Colonial said:

Not sure about the Saints, but otherwise agree with your post.

Or generic bullion coins.  Assuming their supply isn't tough.  A few times, I wanted to buy and all my LCS had was a couple of Krugerrands or Eagles, no Buffalos or Pandas or Maple Leafs.

I'm in the NYC area so I'm lucky...most of the self-desribed coin shops do have decent stuff.  Might not be something for everybody like a Flying Cent or Nickle or Franklin collector, but silver or gold bullion coins, some Morgans and Saints/Liberty DEs, etc.

On 1/18/2023 at 5:27 PM, RWB said:

Your local hardware store sells copper pipe and sheets a lot cheaper than in 1-oz (Troy or Avoirdupois?) stamped pieces of indescribable ugliness. 

Someone in my family once lost a small fortune in copper.  Really bad financial decision.

Oh wait.....that was an episode of "Sanford and Son" from the early-1970's.   Never mind !!! 

On 1/18/2023 at 9:50 PM, RKOL said:

Thanks! I'll work on getting some better photos tomorrow morning.

If you have a smartphone.....make sure the resolution is set to high or moderately high (no 640x480's )....prop the coin up against a book lying flat on a table angled at about 30 degrees....lighting should be behind you or above you and not causing glare.  You shoudl be able to zoom in from about 2 feet away. 

Someone is going to need THOUSANDS of these to play any rise in copper (which I do agree has upside over time).

But whatevere quantity that is....it's 8x that of silver.....and 500x that of gold !! 

Way to "invest" in a cheaper metal -- about $4 per ounce -- which I think is ridiculous.  If you want to play copper, buy a copper stock.

This is a very informative chart. 

When you look at the burgeoning middle-class demand for gold in China, with India poised for a decade of 5-7% GDP growth and an exploding middle class....with Asian demand and even African and South/Central American demand risiing.....I can EASILY make a case for multiple levers of rising demand with limited supply growth (if any)...reduced Central Bank sales....and the same underlying supply/demand imbalances that caused oil to skyrocket in the 1970's or even bounce back bigtime from negative prices in April 2020 in only 2 years to over $125/bbl.

With tens of millions of middle-class buyers of gold, I can easily make a case for 2,500 - 10,000 new tons of new demand coming in each year.  Even if the amount initially and periodically purchased is off...even if many don't want gold but financial assets or crypto...these are countries and regions with cultural attachments to gold that will not be easily as broken with many as it would with a 25-year old with a smarpthone and financial App.

I look back on $325 gold 20-25 years ago and wonder why I didn't buy more.  And I wasn't even aware of Saints and Double Eagles (or even Eagles) at the time. Common Saints at $450.....MS-66's for under $2,000 and even MS-67's probably cost under $5,000.

I wonder if we'll say the same thing in a few years or maybe a decade about gold at $2,000 an ounce ? 

Hog, when you get a chance....check that SETTINGS button and let me/us know what the current resolution is set to. 

On 1/16/2023 at 10:10 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Im not sure if it is or not. Ive never checked it. Ill may try and see if I can adjust it. I never was very good at stuff like that so I never did mess with it. 

I'm not a geek either....the Settings function on your smartphone/camera....my Rear picture size is 16:9 4032x2268 and the Front picture camera is 16:9 and 2640x1488; the Rear camera is the main one, the Front is for selfies I guess.

Different dimensions have different resolutions but if your display is 16:9 then the pictures are probably best in that format, too.

Actually, that's not a bad photo considering.  And it DOES look like a Bald Eagle.  On another thread I have photos of coins with the Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle.

Is your smartphone/camera set to maximum resolution/pixels ?  I'm showing 836x900.  Max resolution should be the case for all pictures...you can awlays shrink them afterwards but tough to maintain resolution/clarity if you expand.

Is that a Bald Eagle or a regular American Eagle ?  I understand they are different, there could be other types/species.

On 11/15/2022 at 10:15 PM, RWB said:

American coin presses were all US made until the mid-1960s. 

Are you saying that presses since then are foreign made ?

It's interesting to see how the value and use of gold and silver coins changed as the California Gold Rush hit and then later the Comstock Silver Mine and other silver supplies came on the market.

The San Francisco Mint had the option of taking in gold OR silver for gold coins but other Mints and assay offices (on the East Coast mostly) accepted only gold.  

On 1/15/2023 at 8:42 AM, zadok said:

...not to become personal, but just exactly what propelled u into the financial arena? n did ur numismatic interests evolve out of the financial side of the hobby or was it there before ur chosen path?....

Majored in economics in college so a natural segue.  Had a small bit of $$$ from the grandparents waiting for me after graduation but Dad said I'm not getting it  unless I can show him that I can invest/manage/preserve it properly, even if only with CDs (this was 1984 remember, when CD's were at 10-12%).  So I learned alot about the markets very quickly (I liked the Alan Abelson's BARRON's commercials, so I started reading that). 

Worked for a few large private banks and some very small financial firms over the next few decades...didn't exactly have the career I wanted but that's another story for another day in another forum .

I had wanted to buy a Krugerrand when reading about gold in 1973 or 1974 or 1975 with some lawn/snow shoveling $$$ I had but Dad wouldn't let me....so when I had a small surplus from my college payment account in the early-1980's I used it to buy a 1/10th ounce Krugerrand.  Still got it !! 

It's funny....I had clients and family mention Saint-Gaudens coins over the years (mostly 1990's) and I never got my interest piqued....I would say "I only know the bullion coins, I don't know about those" and direct them to Blanchard or Monex.  I only got my interest spurred when I bought the 2009 UHR from The Mint and then learned all about the re-creation and the originals.  That led me to the Saints and pre-1933 gold...a few purchases here and there (not enough $$$ )....and LOTS of reading and postings to make up for the lack of purchases.  So I've really only been a follower of the series and Double Eagles and other gold coins for a bit over a decade or so.

And 76 pages later...here I am !! 

I have some worn Morgan, Peace, and Franklins that I've inherited over the years.  I actually should run their condition (mostly AU and below) and year/mintmark by you all some time just to make sure I don't have a semi-rare one that might be worth 3-5x the silver value.