gold
Coin of the Week: 1/10th Oz American Gold Eagles
It is no secret that gold is hot these days. But one type of gold has really skyrocketed in the last few weeks. The American Gold eagle fractional gold tenth oz. coins have shot up in value. I would recommend buying up as many as possible before they are untouchable. Expect to pay $155 for mint state coins and $205+ for proofs. Buy as many as you can get your hands on. this may be the best advice i have given in a while. Happy collecting. As always contact me with any questions.
Proof tenth oz. Gold
Coin of the Week:
The coin of the week is an American Classic. The $2.5 Liberty Head Quarter eagle is a true American beauty.
Coin photo from pcgs.com
Coin of the Week: 2009 American Buffalo
The 2009 gold buffalo is a beautiful coin and a smart investment. The coin has a lower mintage and is one every collector should pick up. I would say why stop at one?
For more information check out the mint web page:
Collecting Finds
If there is one thing I know about coins collecting it is that, all collectors love finding a “keeper” in their change. I started collecting when I got a curious coin as change from a supermarket. After a purchase the cashier said here is your change sorry for the old quarter. I put it in my pocket without even taking a look. Later that day when I was at home I took out the “quarter” and examined it. After looking at it for a little while I realized it was not a quarter at all it was a half dollar. After a bit more research in an old coin book I had at home (A Red Book from 1983) I fould the Coin to be a 1946 Walking Liberty Half dollar. I was hooked. Here are some more finds I have had since that day:
- An 1913 MS 63 red Wheat Penny in my change from Dunkin Donuts
- About 14 Silver Roosevelt Dimes
- A bucket full of Wheat pennies that I have collected over the years
- A silver proof 1976 Drummer Boy quarter.
- A Seated Liberty Half Dime that I found in a Coin Star machine
- Asked for some half dollars at the bank and got a BU roll of 1964s (all silver)
- In my change once from a vending machine a 1936 Buffalo Nickel
- An 1816 large Cent that someone bought to the bank
- Five silver certificate $10 bills I purchases for face value from my bank.
And here are some of the best stories I have heard from people about coin collecting finds:
- A friend was cleaning out his grandmother’s apartment when he found a false wall in the bathroom and a safe behind the wall. The safe was filled with bank bags of silver coins. We pulled out countless rare Barber Half dollars and built ten full sets of Walking Liberty half dollars. There was thousands of Mercury Dimes…
- A coin shop owner from Massachusetts told me that him and his wife bought a painting from an auction house for the beautiful antique frame. When they got home they peeled off the craft paper and found about 30 $2.5 gold quarter eagles taped to the back of the picture. The tape damaged many of the coins but it was still a great find that got them around $20,000. (One of the coins was a rare quarter eagle from the Dahlonega mint).
- A close friend that owns a restaurant went to crack a roll of pennies from the bank and it was full of $1 gold pieces about 40 in total. He thought they were fake but I ensured them he had struck gold.
- A coin shop owner told me that he had a family full of Russian Immigrants bring in 20 uncirculated St. Gauden’s double eagles they had brought over from Russia. He sent them to a friend at an auction house because he did not have the cash on hand to buy the full lot. After a few months the family came in and gave him $1,000 for not taking advantage of them and for sending them to the proper place. He believes the coins brought in over $75,000 at auction.
If you have a story about finding treasure with coins please post it as a comment to this story.
Happy Collecting!
The Great Quarter Eagle Crack Out
An MS-61 Quarter Eagle
Cracking out is when a coin investor buys a graded coin and then cracks it out of its slab and sends it in for regrading in hope of upgrading the coin. This is not in any means a beginner tactic to coin collecting because it requires an expert eye and the ability to grade coins on the spot. The focus of this crack out guide will be Indian Head Quarter Eagles.
First here are some tips you should always consider before cracking out a coin:
- What is my win/loss (how much can I gain from an upgrade and how much can I lose from a downgrade)
- Does the coin have the strike, luster and detail for an upgrade?
- Is the added cost of certification and shipping worth the chance the coin comes back the same grade?
- When cracking out a coin beware of damaging the coin while handling it. (I have heard a few horror stories about people cracking a coin out then dropping it the second it is out of the holder and turning an MS 64 St. Double into a AU-55 St. Double.)
- Be kind and at the end of the year send back all your crack out slips so the coin populations can be redone.
So that is some of the basic knowledge for a more in depth look check out The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual
For the lesson on the Indian Head Quarter Eagle I have picked three dates I feel have a great upside/ downside ratio. The reason I picked the Indian Head Quarter Eagle is because of the way the coin is designed and the complexity the coin presents to the grader. The coin’s details are sunken in and the surfaces are leveled. The coin is graded by the ANA as follows:
MS-70: “A Flawless Coin Exactly as minted… Must have full mint luster”- ANA
MS-65 “No trace of wear except for some small blemishes. Has full mint luster. A few noticeable nicks or marks may be present.”- ANA
MS-63 “A coin with attractive mint luster but noticeable detracting contact marks or minor blemishes” -ANA
MS-60 “A strictly uncirculated coin with no trace of wear but with blemishes more obvious than for a MS-63″ May lack full mint luster and brilliance.”
From this you can notice that the difference between a MS-62 and a MS-63 would be minor if anything but the value swap is huge. Or from a MS-63 to 64.
By the numbers:
|
VALUE IN GRADE |
|||
| DATE & MINTMARK | MS- 61 | MS- 62 | MS-63 |
| 1909 | $390 | $650 | $2,000 |
| BUY THE MS-62 WITH GREAT EYE APPEAL AND THE EXPECTED RESULTS ARE AS FOLLOWS | -$280 (LOSS IN VALUE AND GRADING PLUS SHIPPING) | -$20 (FOR GRADING AND SHIPPING) | +1,330 (PROFIT FROM INCREASE IN VALUE LESS COST OF GRADING AND SHIPPING) |
| MS- 61 | MS- 62 | MS-63 | |
| 1912 | $390 | $625 | $2,100 |
| BUY THE MS-62 WITH GREAT EYE APPEAL AND THE EXPECTED RESULTS ARE AS FOLLOWS | -$255 (LOSS IN VALUE AND GRADING PLUS SHIPPING) | -$20 (FOR GRADING AND SHIPPING) | +1,455 (PROFIT FROM INCREASE IN VALUE LESS COST OF GRADING AND SHIPPING) |
| MS- 60 | MS- 61 | MS-62 | |
| 1914 | $400 | $700 | $2,150 |
| BUY THE MS-61 WITH GREAT EYE APPEAL | -$320 (LOSS IN VALUE AND GRADING PLUS SHIPPING) | -$20 (FOR GRADING AND SHIPPING) | +1,430 (PROFIT FROM INCREASE IN VALUE LESS COST OF GRADING AND SHIPPING) |
***Warning: no results are guaranteed do not do this if you cannot afford the downside risk. As always you can damage your coins easily and there is no safe way to crack coins out. Not for people who do not have expert coin experience!****
Coin of the Week!
Every Friday Rare Coins Unlimited will name a coin of the week.
The 1929 Quarter Eagle
There were only around a half a million $2.5 dollar coins minted. They are know as the depression quarter eagle because of their mint date. Current market trends put an MS 64 example of the coin at around $650 to $700. The coin was also the last coin in the quarter eagle series. Most surviving examples are in mint state. According to NGC there are 14,548 MS examples graded by NGC. The finest example is a single MS 66. Rare Coins Unlimited has the most desirable grader for a collector at MS 63 because of the outstanding value the coin is at that price. This is a great coin to add to a gold type set and is a great coin to start collecting gold coins with. This is a coin that should be a piece of every collection!
Coin Collecting 101: Type Set Collecting
A nice type set does not have to be all high grade!
When you first begin it is hard to pick a concentration for collecting. The perfect place to start is a type set. A type set is one example of every coin. The set includes every major issue from half cent to silver dollar and can even include examples of the gold coinage.
With a type set you are forced to learn a little about each coin in the set to make an educated purchase. As you complete the set you will have physical example of all US coinage and can pick what to specialize on. You may have really enjoyed the hunt for a capped bust quarter and decided these are the coins you want to concentrate on. You also may discover coins you did not know were out there like the elusive 20 cent piece.
Type sets also can be a good way to meet dealers in your area. A type set can be done with raw coins using a Dansco Album or with certified coins using a registry like the NGC registry.
When making a type set try not to combine UNCs with Proof coins because this will cause them to stand out too much. A nice proof set is well balanced and try to find a coin with something significant about it. For example: when picking a braided hair large cent for my type set, I picked a 1855 slanting 5’s, knob on ear. I picked this coin because it is a good coin to talk about. It is not that rare but it adds significantly to my type set.
Once a type set is complete it can collect a pretty premium if all of the coins fit together well. A nice completed type set can bring thousands at auction.
Good luck with your type set!!
