cwjohnson

That's good advice JKK, thank you.

Thanks Just Bob for the clarification. Again, I made a newbie mistake...I've certainly learned this lesson the hard way. But I ain't melting my coin down though...I'll probably send it to NGC anyway to see what they say...stay tuned...

Ohhhh, so because of a few, or more than a few, slight scratches, the coin is worth whatever the going price for an ounce of gold is?

What does that mean, "Worth melt"?

Thanks Just Bob for the link to the Numista page about my coin.

Yeah, as I mentioned in the original post, I was all excited about finding it and handling it with my bare hands. Afterwards, I used a clean tee-shirt to wipe off my finger prints and I think that's what put those scratches on it... Didn't think a soft cotton tee-shirt would do that...lesson learned...don't touch proof type coins with bare fingers...

Good to meet you as well Hoghead515. I appreciate the sentiments on my military service...25yrs, 3mo, and a day...but who was counting...

Hello fellow collectors, my name is Charles and I'm a new collector and new member here. So, I retired from the US Navy in 2011. In 07-08, I deployed to the UAE. While there, I purchased this gold coin…packed it away, came home, threw all my junk in a trunk and left it in the garage. Fast forward this past Thanksgiving weekend, I’m cleaning out the garage, come across my old trunk and crack it open. I’m reminiscing about the good old days and I saw this jewelry case in the bottom of the trunk. I open it and low and behold, this coin is nestled inside. Now, when I say I’m a new collector, I mean new as in 3-weeks new. I started with the 2020-W 1oz Silver American Eagle Proof and have since acquired the 2001 thru 2019 Eagle Proofs in either PF70UC or PF70DCAM. Got some 1st Strikes and Early Releases as well. What I don’t have in the series is the 2009-W Eagle…can’t find it nowhere…’course, that’s another story… Anyhow I got this gold coin here and I’m thinking I want to get a holder for it, ‘cause I’ve handled it with my bare hands and got my finger oils all over it…don’t shoot me, I do know better…now… The scratches you see are from me trying to wipe off my finger oils with a soft cloth-like item, like a clean tee-shirt. I came to NGC’s site to price a holder for it and generally peruse the site. I saw that we can actually send in the coin and they’ll grade it and put one of their cool labels on it. So I joined up and will be getting the coin graded real soon. In the meantime, I’d like to get an idea of what a dealer would pay me for this if I sold it or what it might be graded at. I know this may be a tall order and I know you guys aren’t experts, but you’ve been in the game longer than I have and probably know things I don’t about coins. I’m just seeking a general idea about the grade and value of my coin. I just wanted to share the coin with you guys and am happy to be a member of the group. I thank you guys in advance and look forward to any information you can provide me. Thanks, Charles Now I just need to navigate the coin submission process…