10 1/10 oz 5 Dollar American EAGLE GOLD COIN/COINS

[lee1000-migration]

theres some chap selling 10 of these on ebay, doesnt have much of a description about the coin nor even the currency but you can see the mcmvii, actually, it just has a picture of the liberty side but even though he is a power seller and all that, i dont know if i could could bid on them. surely they cant be genuine if he's selling them as a lot can they?????, what do you think?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3954290648&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

[Beijim]

These are probably genuine $5 American Gold Eagle coins, but the photograph is sufficiently poor as to make determining the exact date difficult. It is certainly not, however, MCMVII (1907). The current high bid is priced as though they're genuine.

 

If you're after gold bullion without regard to condition, I'd recommend buying only when you know exactly what you're getting. A crappy picture is not worth any words, let alone $$$.

 

Beijim

[lee1000-migration]

well, if you dont mind telling me, what is the date on that, i thought that the only roman numeral coins were of the 1907, forgive my crappyness, im new to the coin world but i do find it intruiging.

[Beijim]

well, if you dont mind telling me, what is the date on that, i thought that the only roman numeral coins were of the 1907, forgive my crappyness, im new to the coin world but i do find it intruiging.

 

I think there's a misunderstanding. I was referring to the photograph in the auction listing as crappy - not you or your post .

 

I believe the coins in the auction listing are modern American Gold Eagle bullion coins. The U.S. Mint began issuing $5 Gold Eagles in 1986. All such coins from 1986 through 1991 used Roman numerals for the date, mimicing the original St. Gaudens $20 gold coins on whose design they're based. From 1992 to the present, the coins use Arabic numerals in their date.

 

I called the photograph in the auction listing "crappy" because it lacks sufficient resolution and contrast for me to make out the specific date, but it would have to be one of these for the coin to be genuine:

 

MCMLXXXVI

MCMLXXXVII

MCMLXXXVIII

MCMLXXXIX

MCMXC

MCMXCI

 

Hope this helps,

Beijim

[lee1000-migration]

i know you werent saying that my post was crappy, i was just using it as an example of my coin knowledge. Thanks for the info though, i was wondering if these coins would be worth bidding on. Would be nice to have one of these but i doubt i would want all 10 unless 9 were worth sellin on however, not all coins (in my mind) are going to be graded the same. I think the seller needed to put up a reverse side picture on his shrill, if not, all of the coins. I will continue on my quest to gain more knowledge on coins

[Beijim]

The Gold Eagle coins are relatively soft metal and damage easily. Therefore they're unlikely to be perfect if they're hanging around loose. With the exception of a few lower mintage dates, loose Gold Eagles typically sell for a small premium over their buillion melt value. As an aside, the premium over bullion for all Gold and Platinum Eagle coins is largest for the smaller coins and least for the larger coins.

 

If you like Eagles (as I do) for their design and numismatic appeal, then you'll probably be well served by deciding in what quality you prefer to collect them. You'll pay the smallest premium if ungraded examples suffice. For high quality, the MS69 examples from either NGC or PCGS are very nice.

 

Perfect (or nearly so, since these are graded by humans) MS70 examples are also superb, but they command a substantial premium and have recently (in the last six months) seen a breathtaking rise in price. What's breathtaking? Many of the $5 Gold Eagle years have doubled in price, and several have increased by much more, mostly because their MS70 populations are relatively small.

 

As with anything numismatic, I'd suggest watching the market (eBay auctions are a reasonable facsimile of "the market") for awhile to get a feel for what's a reasonable price. With that knowledge, you can avoid overpaying regardless of the item in which you're interested.

 

Good luck,

Beijim

 

P.S. I almost forgot to say you're right - it's unlikely that 10 loose Gold Eagle coins would all grade the same. In fact, it's unlikely that 10 Gold Eagle coins from a fresh roll would all grade the same.