Was there a GSA Gold Hoard and subsequent distribution?

[JTO]

I've never heard of a GSA gold hoard release is this just a marketing ploy?

 

I was browsing the auction archives at Heritage and came across a group of coins that I had never heard of. They were 2-1/2 dollar Indians slabbed in an NGC holder with the GSA attribution. This makes no sense to me in view of the fact that when gold or bullion was recalled by the federal government in 1933 it was melted into ingots for storage at Fort Knox. I know that in the past dealer's with enough coins and cash can have essentially any attribution placed in the slab. Some hoards are real and some are not. Has anyone heard of or familiar with this particular NGC insert?

 

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[RWB]

Sorry to say it's a lie. Never was a "GSA gold hoard" or anything similar.

[Revenant]

Sorry to say it's a lie. Never was a "GSA gold hoard" or anything similar.

 

Well, GSA on a slab doesn't mean it's a lie. It could mean that someone with the initials GSA wanted their initials on a coin they slabbed - a kind of pedigree from the collector who got it graded by NGC. It could be that someone worked at the General Services Administration for years and the coin was to commemorate that. I don't know how the coin was marketed or why it was originally labeled like that so it's hard to call it a "lie" or know who the liar is. We're just ignorant.

[RWB]

The clear implication is that there is some connection with the GSA Morgans -- that is a lie.

[Electric Peak]

Similar question on the boards in December 2008...

 

DWLange responded:

These were gold coins that NGC certified a few years ago from a GSA dispersal. Unlike the silver dollars, these coins did not come in any special holders from the GSA; they were raw until certified by NGC.

 

Conder101 added:

While they may have come from the GSA I don't believe they came from the government vaults like the silver dollars did. The GSA sells a lot of stuff the government acquires from many different sources These could be from drug confiscations, tax confiscations etc.

 

And RWB wrote:

Some marketing scammers got the bright idea they could charge more money if they mislead people into thinking there was some kind of “GSA Hoard” of gold coins similar to the silver dollars sold by GSA. The con men picked up some gold coins sold at normal GSA auctions of confiscated property, the somehow convinced NGC there was legitimacy to this racket, and got them slabbed with the “GSA” designation. (I understand that NGC no longer does this.)

This gimmick pops up about every six months often accompanied by some nonsense story concocted for use on a corrupt website or two.

 

 

[JTO]

Thank you RWB I knew someone here would have the answer.

 

And to Raving Nut..Maybe it is from someone NAMED General Services Administration and then it would all be okay... but it isn't. We don't have to call it a lie we can call it a unscrupulous marketing ploy, which is what I thought. But lie is easier.

 

P.S. RWB I just bought your book "From Mine to Mint", Autographed. I look forward to reading it. I know I am getting old when I have more books than coins. Also after reading your Peace Dollar book when it first came out, I saw with rapt interest the counterstamped "1978 Carter Camp David Peace summit Dollar" and wondered where I could get one. It was in the last Long Beach HA sale and soon I will have it. That buy the book before the coin thing is sage advice.

[Revenant]

And to Raving Nut..Maybe it is from someone NAMED General Services Administration and then it would all be okay... but it isn't. We don't have to call it a lie we can call it a unscrupulous marketing ploy, which is what I thought. But lie is easier.

 

Actually it's "Revenant." The Raving Nut avatar was a joke that developed after someone once said that they always thought "raving nut" when they saw it at first.

 

Again, they wouldn't have to be named "General Services Administration." They could be named "George Samuel Armstrong" and if they wanted to put their initials "GSA" on a coin that would be just as legitimate as me putting initials on a coin I'm grading. More personally, if I want to pedigree my coins is it my fault that there was a guy that had the same last name as me that had a multi-million dollar collection that he sold off? Is it a lie or unscrupulous if I pedigree my own coins just because he came first and it's a common last name?

 

[Nutmeg Coin]

All it takes is some extra money for a pedigree. A submitter could ask for a pedigree like "Howard Hughes/J. Paul Getty/John D. Rockefeller/G.S.A. Hoard" to make it sound particularly desirable.