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Hi, everyone!!!!

18 posts in this topic

Welcome to the boards! Do you collect classic British gold or modern British gold? Both are pretty cool. I don't have any, but my brother picked up a Sovereign a year ago and it is a remarkable design. I've got 2 Saints, so I have him there. smile.gif

 

Neil

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welcome leo

 

hope you have some fun on here

 

you have really good taste as those gold coins are popular historic and extremely good looking

 

and i think that gold is headed higher in the next few years!

 

sincerely michael

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What do u collect??

 

I collect primarily buffalo and Jefferson nickels. I have other interests, collect widely and read a lot.

 

Hoot

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WOW! It's nice to meet someone with similar interests to me, at least on the US side. I never really got into foreign coins, but I do collect US gold coins by type, as well as some by series (right now I am working on Saint-Gaudens double eagles, almost halfway there!). I also recently started collecting bust halves, mostly by series, but since I am so new, I am just buying ones that look nice to me with no real rhyme or reason. I did get a nice 1818/17 overdate a little while ago though. Welcome to the boards again!

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Welcome to the NGC forum.

I've been accumulating Britannias , 1998 to 2003. One of the most beautiful coins I've ever see. Gotta get them graded and slabbed one of these days.

Twowood

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Welcome Leo!

 

You have chosen a very intiguing series with bust half overdates, I collect them by die variety, lately the draped bust series. I also collect foreign gold by country, although I have not purchased any since gold popped over $300. I also like the U.S. $20 Liberties and the associated history of the California and Alaskan gold rushes.

 

Best of luck in your collecting interests.

 

Bill

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Thank you for all of you, and I'm really happy because of many people have the same interests as I do. Jtryka, you are very luckly. I think it's not easy to get a nice overdate coin in both sliver and gold. May be just because I haven't bought one yet. frown.gif

 

I just bought six gold coins on ebay last three month, they were graded by NTC. May be some of them has been cleaned. (I don't know the difference between the cleaned and Non-cleaned coins.) crazy.gif

 

I have another one which I bought in Germany four years ago, it's a 1869-P with no graded. I grade it VF30. (may be cleaned) It's the first US coin I have bought. And when I buy it, I didn't know how scarce was this coin, I bought it just because I know it's a 19th US gold coin. This coin still haven't grade yet. smile.gif

 

Thanks again, I'm happy to learn both coin and English here. tongue.gif

 

Best Regards

Leo

 

 

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So where are you from Leo? (since you are also learning English). These series are very interesting, but I encourage you to learn as much as you can before you spend too much money. Just a week or two ago, I bought a 1903-S Liberty $20 that turned out to be a very good fake! The same goes with grading and cleaning, it takes time to learn, but boards like this are very good for learning. NTC is a second tier grading company from what I understand, though I have not purchased any coins graded by them. There was a discussion on them not too long ago if I remember. Much of the education comes with time though, and some tough lessons, and lots of questions. And if you ever have a question, just ask!

 

The Liberty series is nice, I especially like the Type 1, but I only have one, an 1860. I have a few Type 2, like your 1869, but mine are from the 1870s. I always liked the shield better on the Type 1s, I am not sure why. Liberty double eagles are ones that I collect when I find nice ones, but there are just too many to collect them by series (not that Saints are a lot easier!), perhaps one day I will put together a mintmark set for each type. Anyway, I hope you learn a lot!

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Leo, the ones I talked about were $20, since that is what I mainly collect, they are also called "double eagles" since they were worth double the amount of an "eagle" which is a $10 gold piece. As far as cleaning, it can be very difficult with gold, since light cleaning is very hard to detect. The way I would look at it is for "hairlines" or very small scratched in the suface of the coin. They are easiest to see in the fields which are usually very smooth. To see them best, hold the coin by the edges under a light, and slowly tilt it in a circular pattern so that the reflection of the light moves around the coin giving a so-called "cartwheel" effect. If you see some breaks in the luster, you should be suspicious, and often with a harshly cleaned or whizzed coin, you will be able to see the actual lines. Another way to look is with a magnifying glass, to look at the coin and slowly tilt it so the light changes angle, and you will likely see any lines. What you may want to try is taking a nice half dollar from the bank that is close to being uncirculated, and then clean it harshly with a cloth, like a towel or rag, and then look to find the lines leave behind. This is a much cheaper way to experiment than using an obsolete coin. The other thing to remember is that since gold is so much softer, even very soft clothes can leave marks that can be seen and damage the grade. If you think a coin has been cleaned, all is not lost, since some services like NCS and ANACS will certify a genuine coin that has been cleaned noting on the holder that it has been cleaned, and what the grade would have been without the cleaning, and the "net grade" with the cleaning taken into account. With gold, it is also good to buy coins already certified since in many dates, the difference in price between a certified and raw coin is very little, so it pays to spend the extra money to know what you are getting ahead of time. Hope this helps!

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