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1975 mint bag of Eisenhower dollars

Started by MintStateNumismat,

28 posts in this topic

e1cnr

e1cnr

Posted
Posted

I would open it and check for any major errors - I am not sure what you paid, but it takes an exceptional bicentennial in either type 1 or 2 to be worth the cost of getting graded.

 

You would still have the 1000 coins minus whatever you kept.

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MintStateNumismat

MintStateNumismat

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The Ike series has been a favorite of mine. It has become widely known that if you need Ikes or have Ikes to sell that you come to me. At a coin show a few months back a show dealer told me he had a bag of Ikes and asked if I would be interested in purchasing it. I said yes but didn't think much of it. At the most resent coin show in Utah he comes in with a bag on a hand truck. I paid $1900 and the bag was mine.

I was very excited for a couple of reasons. First I have looked for unopened bags for years and have only seen 2 come up for sale, not many people will get the chance to be the first to see what's inside. Second the bag would likely be full of type 1 Ikes and the bag proves it was minted in 1975.

 

Thanks for asking,

Randy

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coinman_23885

coinman_23885

Posted
Posted
The Ike series has been a favorite of mine. It has become widely known that if you need Ikes or have Ikes to sell that you come to me. At a coin show a few months back a show dealer told me he had a bag of Ikes and asked if I would be interested in purchasing it. I said yes but didn't think much of it. At the most resent coin show in Utah he comes in with a bag on a hand truck. I paid $1900 and the bag was mine.

I was very excited for a couple of reasons. First I have looked for unopened bags for years and have only seen 2 come up for sale, not many people will get the chance to be the first to see what's inside. Second the bag would likely be full of type 1 Ikes and the bag proves it was minted in 1975.

 

Thanks for asking,

Randy

 

I think your interpretation regarding Bicentennial coins is the most likely scenario, but do not discount the possibility that it could include older coins. Maybe RWB or someone could tell you if any older coins were stored at the Mint around that time period.

 

I personally would open the bag, pick out any high grade coins, neat varieties, and errors and sell the rest in rolls/tubes as "from an original hoard" or "from an original bag" on eBay.

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cladking

cladking

Posted
Posted

They switched to type II in September of '75, I believe.

 

$1,900 is a fairly good price. If the coins are nice it should be easy enough to retrieve your capital and you have a good shot at finding enough Gems to make a decent profit.

 

Good luck.

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mark

mark

Posted
Posted

MintStateNumismatist:

 

Interesting story how you got the bag. Now, I know I could do the math myself, but if you don't mind me asking, about how much does it weigh? And, at least for me, your picture did not post. If it's universal that it did not post, I think it would be fun to see your picture of the bag.

 

I probably would not open the bag simply because it has survived over 40 years without being opened. If I wanted to think of it in terms of an investment, I'd rationalize my decision with the (probably foolish) belief that its value would climb as years passed and it remains unopened.

 

Mark

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Mr.Mcknowitall

Mr.Mcknowitall

Posted
Posted
The Ike series has been a favorite of mine. It has become widely known that if you need Ikes or have Ikes to sell that you come to me. At a coin show a few months back a show dealer told me he had a bag of Ikes and asked if I would be interested in purchasing it. I said yes but didn't think much of it. At the most resent coin show in Utah he comes in with a bag on a hand truck. I paid $1900 and the bag was mine.

I was very excited for a couple of reasons. First I have looked for unopened bags for years and have only seen 2 come up for sale, not many people will get the chance to be the first to see what's inside. Second the bag would likely be full of type 1 Ikes and the bag proves it was minted in 1975.

 

Thanks for asking,

Randy

 

You are the go to guy for Ikes, buying and/or selling.

 

What would be your answer if someone approached you with the same scenario?

 

I would think that is the answer.

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RWB

RWB

Posted
Posted

What is the complete lettering on the bag? Is there a metal tag attached to a lead seal, etc.

 

I might have data, but I need the above info first. (Posting a couple of good photos will help.)

 

My experience with checking unopened Ike bags is that most of the coins are low-end, with just a handful of nice keepers that might be MS-65.

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orifdoc

orifdoc

Posted
Posted

If there were no other useful identifying features, I'd make a small opening (3mm) large enough to admit a camera (borescope, arthroscope) and at least see what date I was dealing with.

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SkyMan

SkyMan

Posted
Posted

As mentioned by everyone else, some pix would help.

 

Part of it I'd say is what is your age? If you are relatively young, it might be worth stashing the bags in an area with high heat and humidity, and open it up in 10 years or so, hoping that some decent bag toning will have ensued in the intervening period. Of course, if you need to get your $1,900 back out now, then by all means open it up. You might take some pix while you are doing so, so you can post them to the boards for others to enjoy your "treasure hunt".

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thebeav

thebeav

Posted
Posted
If there were no other useful identifying features, I'd make a small opening (3mm) large enough to admit a camera (borescope, arthroscope) and at least see what date I was dealing with.

 

Jeepers....I had never thought of that. Now, after reading, I guess there is no such thing as an unsearched bag. Although it sure would be tough to look at coins in a canvas bag through a borescope.....

 

Paul

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RWB

RWB

Posted
Posted

" I guess there is no such thing as an unsearched bag."

 

No, that is incorrect. A small hole can be used to check the contents of a bag, but it has little to do with examining/searching the coins in an original mint-sealed bag.

 

My request for the printing and seal descriptions relate to mint and treasury practices in bagging the coins.

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numisport

numisport

Posted
Posted

Truly unsearched bag would have mostly MS 6175 with many going MS 6275 and a few MS 6375 coins remaining in bag for toning projects. Only couple MS 64 coins could go to corner stone construction sites. Remainder coins to be sold at market grade through telemarketer as gem. Ill send a 5.00 bill for one MS 59 coin that includes a piece of the canvas bag.

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ldhair

ldhair

Posted
Posted
Truly unsearched bag would have mostly MS 6175 with many going MS 6275 and a few MS 6375 coins remaining in bag for toning projects. Only couple MS 64 coins could go to corner stone construction sites. Remainder coins to be sold at market grade through telemarketer as gem. Ill send a 5.00 bill for one MS 59 coin that includes a piece of the canvas bag.

Say again please.

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RWB

RWB

Posted
Posted

( I hate it when we get satellite signal drop right in the middle of typing -- makes a muddle of the message.)

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cladking

cladking

Posted
Posted

Most bags of Ikes are awful. 1974-P might be the worst at least as far as extremely poor coins go if not average quality. But it should be remembered that unlike all other moderns some of the highest grade Gems come from bags rather than mint sets and most varieties and '71 and '72 issues don't appear in mint sets at all. There is a very high correlation between mint set quality and populations in the highest grade with cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, halfs, and dollars other than Ikes but this breaks down a lot with Ikes.

 

I wouldn't expect any Gems whether these are '74, '76 type I, or '76 type II but the possibility exists. And the possibility of a pop top exists. This is far less likely than some imagine because only several die pair will exist in the bag and regardless of the date the dies were probanly worn, misadjusted, and low pressure and then the coins were marked up before going in the bag. The great thing about bags though is if there's one Gem there are likely to be numerous ones and a few of these might be spectacular. It wasn't long ago a 1977 bag impacted the pops on that date.

 

There aren't many Ike bags left now days but I just don't see much of a premium ever developing for them. While Ikes can be a little scarce in chBU they are never going to be scarce enough to make gambling on these bags profitable and the bags are very unlikely to ever get much premium as a collectible in itself. These bags will still be arounbd in at least small numbers for many years.

 

$1900 is actually pretty cheap for the '76-D type I so if all these coins can just go MS-63+ you'll profit. This is not unrealistic at all.

 

It will be hard to get your money back if they are all dogs. If you're worried, I imagine a wholesaler would be happy to take the bag off your hands and provide you a small profit.

 

I doubt any of this is very surprising to you. Knowing the date on the bag would be helpful in knowing what coins are in it.

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cladking

cladking

Posted
Posted
A profit after paying $15,000+ for "grading?"

 

No. Certainly don't send them all in for grading. Just send in MS-65 or MS-66 and higher. Nice chBU coins are easy to sell retail for a few dollars each or a couple dollars for the '74-D. Dogs are hard to sell at all except retail and they'll move very slowly.

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