zadok

(I must be losing it... I do not recall having written this post.  I don't deny its provenance, but the "voice" did not resonate with me. I do not recognize it. I read it and then looked to see who wrote it, and was startled to find out it was me. It's not even a month.  Whew!)

Hi there!  
Greetings and salutations.
I cannot resist the temptation to weigh in.  You state you have a Double Eagle with "this marking where it should not be."  Personally, I do not see the need for such marking at all, but if you feel it is "where it should not be," perhaps you can tell us where it ought to be.  We take all customer complaints seriously.  🤣
(I am sure someone will stop by shortly to give you a valid explanation.)

And that sir, is the point of collecting coins.  If you like it, you can collect it.  There are trillions of coins out there, go crazy, but try not to go broke!

...as forrest said...s-t-u-p-i-d is as s-t-u-p-i-d does...u have none, i stand by that likening n u definitely know nothing of the last...all in time....

Someone will have to prove that these were authorized pieces produced with government approval and monetized. Seeking permission from the RM proves little, the SAM could have been looking for permission to replicate the design, who knows, that does not mean that this is a LT coin. The piece having the same weight, dimensions, composition, etc., also has little meaning as "Fantasy" pieces are produced all the time that closely match real coins.
Here is my take on this piece. The Gillick portrait is used on the obverse, this portrait was in use until 1968 and then retired, the reverse is dated 1995 which should have been paired with the Maklouf obv. There is no documentation that any government approved and/or monetized this piece, this most likely would have required that a law be passed or an amendment to existing law. While the sovereign is still LT in England I don't know that it is anywhere else, South Africa ceased being a commonwealth long before this piece was made and I doubt that a sovereign is on the books as being LT in that country or tied to any current denomination. To me this is a fantasy piece/medal, that's not to say that it is not rare or desirable to collectors, it probably is.

...yep, just following thru on a promise i made....

On the continuum of all possible crimes that can be committed Federally, from violent crimes against the person to crimes against property, theft of this kind, on the lower end, are non-violent and white collar-ish in nature. In the absence of specific information, I would have to believe only the prosecutors representing the people in the name of the USA, the office that prepared the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) and the sentencing judge, likely know best whether justice was done. I cannot comment because I do not know.

Employee working at USPS caught red handed stealing thousands and thousands of dollars worth coins only to get a light slap on wrist 37 months prison sentence ! Should be in jail for a good 10+ years for breaking a federal crime like that!  
 
https://www.numismaticnews.net/us-coins/coin-thief-sentenced-to-federal-prison

I'm usually a strong-defender of private property rights, but in this case I hope she lost her lucrative pension from the USPS.  Or it is being seized to pay off the amount she stole.
If she worked for them for 30 or more years, could be $50,000 per year or more.  Of course, she could be one of the derelicts the USPS and the other delivery systems has hired without doing background checks the last 5 years or so.

...sadder n sadder, ur continued references to the "well-liked member" is shameful...he couldnt stand ur presence on the forum n justifiably so...very doubtful anyone here will refer to u in the same manner...too bad the moderators r so indifferent to the wishes of the aforementioned departed member, guess they r starving for participants....

...yep, just following thru on a promise i made....

I thought I would update this post with more recent acquisitions. These round out all 20! I'm still looking for upgrades but I've slowed down quite a bit since filling the last hole. 
 

No I did not say that or imply that, I said please tell me any dealer or bullion operation that is selling AU dets $2 1/2 gold coins for melt values, I don't know of a single one that is selling any gold coin for melt.    There is a big difference between melt and spot and theory and reality, in theory a junk gold coin should sell for melt, but the reality of this market is that those coins actually sell close spot even though most are less than 100% pure gold content.
I am well aware where to fine melt values, you do not need to lecture to me on this.   What you seem to not understand is how impaired gold is currently traded in this market, nobody that I have seen or know of is buying or selling cleaned or ex jewelry coins for melt, that is just not true.   Impaired gold coins sell at or near spot, yes it is true that most classic gold coins are 90 or 92% gold and thus should sell at a discount to spot.   But that is not the reality of this market, stackers are more than willing to pay prices that are above melt and close to spot for impaired coins and unimpaired coins that grade less than MS63/MS64 depending on the spot price.
As I noted in my reply to GF the rise in spot gold price has compressed the premium of coins that grade less than MS64, here is a section of Gerry Fortin's blog where he discusses this.

Here is an example of what most sellers are asking for impaired gold, this is copied from a facebook group that if for classic gold only this was posted just one hour ago.   This particular coin is a common date $10 piece but as you can see this is priced above melt which as of now would be almost $1,060 for a Liberty head eagle.

Here is another post in that group from one day ago selling common date unimpaired AUish $2 1/2 Indians (there actually is a 25-D in this group he is selling), for $390 ea, well below your $500 estimate.

And one more, in this case another 25-D $2 1/2 posted yesterday selling for well above melt but in this case below spot, which is somewhat unusual.

@Sandon please do not lecture to me on something that you seem unfamiliar with, none of the examples I have provided to you are atypical of what I see every day.   I follow this and other gold groups and sites and am quite familiar with how both unimpaired and impaired gold is being priced in this current market.   However, and again, if you know of a source that is selling details gold $1 or $2 1/2 for melt values ($1 gold is $106 and $2 1/2 is at $262 as I type this) I'm all ears and would love to purchase some at melt prices.

"Mycolect" sounds like a microbial disease, or maybe....
"... colonization of the gastrointestinal tract with Bacteroides fragilis expressing an immunodominant bacterial polysaccharide, through dendritic cell activation and induction of a TH1-mediated response, leads to a splenic response characterized by normal numbers of CD4+ T cells, lymphoid architecture, and systemic lymphocytic expansion."

Q.A.:  All this doubled-die talk is:  
🐓  :  Are you sure about that?
Q.A.:  ABSOLUTELY!  Look up the Topic.  It reads:  "Steve passmore."
🐓  :  Alright then, my first question to the OP is:  having been a member now for well over a year,  what prompted you to speak up now, and why have you chosen this topic?         
Just joshin' you Steve.  You'll get the hang of it. 

@Coinbuf--A quarter eagle contains only 0.12904 oz. of gold and if whole contains $266.96 in gold at today's closing price. See U.S. Gold Coin Melt Values | Gold Coin Prices | NGC Coin Melt Value. Yesterday it would have been worth about $262 as I recall, so $260 wouldn't be "significantly under spot." Many common date gold coins that are "ex-jewelry" are so severely damaged (not just "cleaned" or lightly scratched) that in my experience they are of no interest to collectors and are only saleable as scrap or for further jewelry use.  I am not currently able to assess the authenticity or condition of the OP's coin.  

...u would need to go n research/study the coinage issued under the Latin Monetary Union to find ur answer...bit too expansive to list here...lets just say the 20 franc n its gold weight was the "euro before the euro"...napoleon's attempt to standardize continental currencies....

I have revisited this topic (since my last post earlier today) wondering whether "truly rare" is any more, or less, subjective than "grading." I believe the above excerpt captures the essence of the "je ne sais quoi"-like quality of defining the otherwise indefinable, "truly rare." Another masterful stroke of articulated jargoning!  There are some posts that ought to be preserved, in perpetuity. This is one of them.

1942, 2 over 1 "Mercury" dime, ANACS graded XF 45 in old small holder:

Unfortunately, the term "rare coin" has been used to refer to a variety of coins ranging from pieces such as 1913 Liberty nickels and 1894-S dimes, of which very few actually exist, to 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cents and 1916-D "Mercury" dimes, of which tens of thousands exist, and even to any coin that one could no longer expect to find in circulation, such as any Morgan or Peace dollar.  Almost any coin made for circulation to which a third-party grading service has awarded a high enough grade is also now referred to as "rare", even if it is a modern coin with a mintage of billions.  The pricing of coins is based on demand, as well as supply, and a coin of which only a few dozen exist but for which there are relatively few customers, such as the pattern coin described in the initial post, may sell for far less than a coin in equivalent grade of which thousands exist but is much more popular.   The definition of "truly rare" is relative and not subject to objective determination.  
   I've never heard of a "CFR" scale before, but the scale usually used for earlier U.S. coins by date or die variety runs from R1 (more than 1,250) to R8 (2-3 known) or R9 (unique) and was developed by Dr. William Sheldon of early large cent reference and Sheldon Grading Scale fame but who was posthumously exposed as a coin thief.  Under this scale, most "rare" coins, such as the aforementioned 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cents and 1916-D dimes, would be classified as R1 along with coins existing by the millions. A "Rarity 2" would have an estimated population of only 501-1250 and to most collectors of popular series by date and mint would be considered very rare indeed.
   Q. David Bowers proposed a "Universal Rarity Scale" in which an issue or variety that is "URS-1" is unique, "URS-2" means 2 known, "URS-3" means 3 or 4 known, and the estimated population doubles for every next number, so that, for example, "URS-20" means an estimated population of 250,001 to 500,000.  This scale has been adopted by the authors of the Cherrypickers' Guide and may be more practical for more popularly collected issues and varieties.
   Just how many coins of a particular issue or variety actually exist is generally unknowable. Only one 1873-CC "No Arrows" Liberty Seated dime is publicly known to exist, with no others reported, but it is always possible, no matter how unlikely, that one or more others will be found in some forgotten collection or accumulation.  
   

🐓:  You know what? He's right!... How did you know he'd know?
Q.A.:  I didn't... beginners' luck is all...  

...u would need to go n research/study the coinage issued under the Latin Monetary Union to find ur answer...bit too expansive to list here...lets just say the 20 franc n its gold weight was the "euro before the euro"...napoleon's attempt to standardize continental currencies....

...one of many, many rarity scales put forth...this one not universally recognized nor utilized...there is no standard to determine true rarity, in many instances there r rarity scales (R) for virtually every different denomination or series of coins n thats just for US coinage...totally futile effort....

...one of many, many rarity scales put forth...this one not universally recognized nor utilized...there is no standard to determine true rarity, in many instances there r rarity scales (R) for virtually every different denomination or series of coins n thats just for US coinage...totally futile effort....