GoldFinger1969

Should have showed up 5 years later...stolen some 1927-D's...and buried them for 97 years in what would have been my backyard. 

On 3/26/2024 at 8:25 AM, Greenstang said:

Just guessing here but it could possibly be an assayers mark verifying that it is gold.  much like the trade dollars that were counterstamped proving them to be genuine.

Was counterfeiting a problem 120 years ago ?  I thought that's why U.S. gold coins were so universally accepted.  

On 3/25/2024 at 12:35 PM, RWB said:

Update -- The same coin seller was pushing 1932 Eagles for $2,495 (MS-64) Friday, and had a copy of my Saint-Gaudens DE book on the table as a prop. This is the book published by Heritage Auctions with a large S-G  HR DE on the cover. (There's no comparable S-G Eagle book....it never got written.)

I've seen it in the past. 

Were they COMMON Eagles ?  MS-64 or MS-63 grade ?  I presume there are tens of thousands of 1932 Eagles available.

What are the marks indicative of ?  Do we know what they stand for ?

Where did you get the coin -- the seller had no information or guesses ?

On 7/10/2023 at 11:31 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I have some 30-year old articles talking about the Coin Bubble of 1989-90.  I thought I would post some of the declines of coins noted at that time and also give an updated price from recent sales in the last year or back a few years to see how they have done over the last 25-30 years (I used the Heritage Archive to get a feel for recent prices).

If any of you have knowledge on the coins I cited, please post.   Some of the coins I am completely unfamiliar with as to their pricing history and stories behind interest in them over the decades.  I also realize that it's tough to get a 100% apples-to-apples comparision because you never know if the price quotes back then were the high water-mark and/or if today's prices include special features.  For the most part, I tried to look at multiple recent sales prices without any special desiognations (CAC, VAM, DMPL, etc.) to be accurate to the original listing decades ago.

Article comments italicized...my comments and recent prices in blue.   Comments VERY welcome. 

 

No-Motto 1858 Liberty Seated Quarter….On May 26, 1989, the Bluesheet listed this coin at $14,900 in MS-65 as certified by either PCGS or NGC.  The Insider’s Guide to U.S. Coin Values lists the same coin’s value in 1993 at less than half that amount–just $7,000. 

Looks like MS-66’s last few years (2021-23) sell for ~ $4,500 but MS-65’s were $2,000 or so 5-10 years ago (mid-2010’s).  65’s were $2,500 or so 2005-07. 

On May 26, 1989, the Bluesheet assigned a value of $555 to an 1880-S Morgan silver dollar certified as Mint State-65 by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America (NGC). Today, that same coin is valued at only about $75. 

Looks like a generic Morgan SD common has come back to about $175-$200 as of early-2023.

On May 26, 1989, the Bluesheet value for a no-motto Liberty Seated half dollar graded MS-66 by the professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) was a whopping $39,000. Today, that coin is listed for only about one-third that amount. 

No date given for this coin (maybe they implied common year ?), but No Mottos seem to be about $5,500 which would be another 60-70% decline from the 1993 level.  $10,000 if you have special features or CAC apparently.  Can't believe how some of these U.S. Small Denomination coins got driven up in the 1980's !! 

On May 26, 1989, the Bluesheet assigned a value of $4,060 to a Saint-Gaudens double eagle graded MS-65 by NGC.  My book, The Insider’s Guide to U.S. Coin Values, lists it at only $1,200.

Saints I know pretty well, these have come back to $2,500 since gold is up 5-fold since then.  Big difference is that the premium back then to gold was about 700-800% which is insane.  Today, it's maybe 20-30% for an MS-65.

The price declines of common-date Morgan dollars have been every bit as dramatic for MS-66 and MS-67 specimens as they have for MS-65 pieces. In MS-66, the price has plunged from $1,400 to $200, and in MS-67 the drop has been from $3,950 to $680. 

For the 1880-S….66’s are $350 give-or-take in early-2023 and 67’s are about $900.  Both could be another 20% higher.

I found this very interesting because by going to the MS-67 level, you really are going for conditional scarcity.  The article was dated 1993, BTW so a 4-year decline was cited.

Just wanted to see if anybody had any updated prices for the coins mentioned here in the grades listed.  Ballpark figures OK if not actual recent auction results.

I think it is safe to say that we have NEVER gotten back to those levels from 35 years ago.  It really was Nutsoville. 

Were the coins in display cases ?

A really-heavy safe -- 600 pounds or more -- would be a useful deterrent.  Nothing is burglar proof, but most want to get in-and-out and not spend 10-15 minutes trying to get by 2" steel doors.

On 3/24/2024 at 7:47 PM, Henri Charriere said:

🐓  🐓  🐓  🐓  🐓  

Are you calling that thread a TURKEY ??  

Oh right...they're roosters. 

On 3/22/2024 at 1:23 PM, Coinbuf said:

Glad she was caught, have to agree with Jason that the sentence seems rather light for the crime.

Grand Larceny ?  Or is that not total thefts but single acts ?  

They ASKED for or had authority to impose much longer sentencing....but apparently let a plea deal take effect.  Not sure why, since the plea cut the sentence by 80% and they had her dead-to-rights.

Maybe they felt sorry for her because her son/accomplice died. 

No hidden security cameras ??  

On 3/23/2024 at 8:41 AM, Jason Abshier said:

Reading the article it stated her son was selling the coins to a local dealer … but authorities were not able to arrest the son due to fact he died …. Wondering if her son was a drug addict ? Sure seems like that why she was stealing valuable items for son drug addictions? …. Either way two wrongs don’t make a right 

Worked in a hamburger joint and if you see his picture....looks like he wouldn't know the face value of a dime, let alone the market value of 5-figure coins.

Surprised the dealer didn't put 2 and 2 together alot faster. 

Scott Travers....old name....I remember his name in some articles talking about the 1989 Coin Bubble.

On 3/23/2024 at 10:14 AM, RWB said:

I'll have to check the enabling details on that, but the gold clause suggests it.

I'll look too.  Can't find a good website describing this but not in my 2 currency books, maybe in the others.

On 3/22/2024 at 1:23 PM, Coinbuf said:

Glad she was caught, have to agree with Jason that the sentence seems rather light for the crime.

Multiple thefts.....grand larceny...and use of the mails plus other violations.

Was she tried by Alvin Bragg ? 

On 3/22/2024 at 9:23 PM, RWB said:

This thread on the "Other Side of the Tracks" is one of the best ones in several months (in addition to the 1922-D cent threads).

Maybe, but aside from their 1933 DE thread where you and Roy Langbord chimed in, they don't have anything approaching the RWB Saints Book Thread !! 

They have some good graders there but even there the grading thread didn't offer a definitive answer about wear/rub/friction. 

On 3/22/2024 at 3:48 PM, RWB said:

In 1927 you would have gotten 10-20 at hard labor. 

Yeah, imagine having a time machine....going back in time...and having a coin or currency from the FUTURE.  Kind of sabotage your time-travel plans if you get caught. 

On 3/22/2024 at 3:48 PM, RWB said:

Until April 1933 you could have gotten gold coin

So this $20 FRN was basically as good as a Gold Certificate.... except it probably wasn't backed by actual gold coins held as reserves at FRBs ?  

Noob, it's no different than folks with ways to win the Lottery or MegaMillions or Powerball...or Get Rich Quick schemes for real estate on TV at 3 AM.....or how you too can make 50% a year in the stock market.

At some point, you just have to use common sense. 

If you REALLY want to win some EASY $$$$, here ya go:

On 3/22/2024 at 1:05 PM, Henri Charriere said:

[If this note is yours, have you thought of having it encapsulated?  It looks to be of Exceptional Paper Quality.]

It is...it's a PMG-58.  

What would have happened if you showed up at a FRB or the Treasury with this note in the late-1920's -- would you have gotten gold bars or coins ?

I'm usually a strong-defender of private property rights, but in this case I hope she lost her lucrative pension from the USPS.  Or it is being seized to pay off the amount she stole.

If she worked for them for 30 or more years, could be $50,000 per year or more.  Of course, she could be one of the derelicts the USPS and the other delivery systems has hired without doing background checks the last 5 years or so.

So NGC has a stolen-reporting system.....but PCGS does not ?

On 3/21/2024 at 2:54 PM, Henri Charriere said:

In a nutshell... bed rest following hip-replacement surgery... internet... "Say, I wonder how the coins I bought and sold in the 1960's are doing right now?... Oh, what's this? 🐓... The rest, as they say is history...  

Not too dissimilar from my story...I always seem to get into new hobbies or coins when I am out-of-work or having medical issues taken care of (when I don't have $$$)....when I DO have $$$....I don't have the time to learn new hobbies or new coins. 

On 3/21/2024 at 9:35 PM, Henri Charriere said:

(Respectfully, I do not believe "how many survived?" is a knowable, ascertainable fact.

Estimate is good enough....RWB did one in his book.

On 3/21/2024 at 1:14 PM, Coinbuf said:

As I noted in my reply to GF the rise in spot gold price has compressed the premium of coins that grade less than MS64, here is a section of Gerry Fortin's blog where he discusses this.

Interesting blog and I see why some people might have interest in his blog.  Never heard of the guy before.

What would make his blog more interesting to more people if he had dedicated sections and repeated them daily or from time-to-time....i.e., Saints, Morgans, Franklin Halves, etc.  If anybody knows anybody like that, I'm all ears.   The guy who owns a Rare Coins dealership in New Hampshire (I have him bookmarked somwhere) had some good observations and insights on FUN 2024.

On 3/21/2024 at 7:08 AM, Henri Charriere said:

F Y I:  $412.59. That is the gold melt value of a French 20-franc gold rooster as of today and the highest it's been since I started collecting them five years ago.

You only got into them 5 years ago ?  What caused you to pursue it so late ?

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