Do you think there are any undiscovered 1933 eagles floating around?(Europe?)

[SethChandler-migration]

I think there is about thirty or so known. Not ultra rare like the 27-D and 33 Saint.....but just enough to lead you to believe there is one or two just hanging out.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Seth

 

 

1933 Eagles, not Double Eagles.....I'm tired of THAT story

[gmarguli]

Undiscovered as in the owner doesn't know what he has? No. Undiscovered as in not announced to the world? Yes.

 

There has been quite a bit of talk that there are other 1933 $20 waiting to be "legalized" or in private collections.

 

 

Eagles, not double eagles: Same answer as above. From what I have heard, there are a lot of gold collectors in Japan. I would suspect that there are several floating around in colections there. Also, there are probably a few old time collections in the US that have never been sent into the services.

 

[DaveG]

One way to check would be to track the 1933 eagle's auction appearances. If the coin doesn't have a provenance from a previous auction, that would probably be a clue that the coin was coming out of some European bank vault.

 

According to the dealers who buy gold in Europe, the Europeans do know when they have rare dates or mintmarks and they reportedly sell them very discretely. I've read several stories over the years of groups of coins that were thought to be rare being discovered in Europe and sold quietly over periods of years.

 

With the 1933 eagle, you could probably sell one every three or four years without upsetting the market.

[Oldtrader3]

There are (20) and (5) 1933 Eagles Certified by PCGS and NGC, respectively (including resubmissions). It is not improbable that there may be twice that number in existance. Those held in Europe, Canada or the Arab States may only come to auction infrequently and then only in Europe.

[michael]

100-150 or so

 

sincerely michael

 

it would not surprise me if there were a partical bag out there maybe? dispursed or currently in the process thereof

 

 

[truthteller]

I truly believe that there are literally thousands of rare US coins in the hands of Europeans today. Many of which are undisclosed. In this country we have a penchant for telling everyone and his brother that this collector owns that and that collector owns this. Not so in European circles. Europeans tend to enjoy ownership more than exhibition of rarities, untill the collection comes up for sale. Europeans also enjoy privacy much more than Americans, and expect the same when offering or showing a coin to a fellow collector. I was conversing with a fellow dealer and he told me that today, many American classic rarities are heading to Europe again.

 

TRUTH

[TomB]

I can't support my post with facts, however, I believe there are at least as many undisclosed and in existance as there are disclosed. Part of this is just a hunch, part or it is from other sources.

[SethChandler-migration]

You guys really believe that there is alot more out there, uh? That's amazing to think that there are a handfull that are just waiting to be discovered....or "ready" to surface. Remember it's a 100k coin. What does that mean "European Banks"......why would they still have 70 yr old US gold coins just "laying" around in some dark corner....doesn't make sense to me. I understand why they had them back then, but now? Doesn't banks do an inventory every now and then?

 

Seth

[truthteller]

A recent inventory at a Santa Barbara, Ca bank uncovered a unique pair of US Large notes(1878?) which sold at auction for over $100k. I guess some inventory takes longer than others.

 

TRUTH

[DaveG]

Seth,

 

European banks, especially Swiss banks, have long had numismatic departments.

 

It's certainly possible that these banks would either have sold some rare coins to clients 30 or 40 years ago, or else the banks would own the coins themselves. In either case, if a coin were to be sold today, it would be seen as coming "from a European bank", regardless of whether it was being sold on behalf of a client or on behalf of the bank itself.