Where is a Time Machine when you really need it?

[LINCOLNMAN]

A few weeks ago, when I joined the forum, a member made the mistake of asking me if I had any stories. If you aren't fed up with old timer stories and have nothing better to do, read on. Here's a quick one.

 

It's 1957, I'm a skinny super-geek who spends his paper route money on coins. Gold is pegged at $35 an ounce, not a lot of market interest in generic gold, and I'm putting together a gold type set. One of my coin scouts, my dad, has sourced a guy who owns a tobacco shop in San Francisco who has a mini-hoard of $5 Indians.

 

My other scout, mom, drives me into the city. The tobacconist takes out a cigar box (what else?) full of Indians and spreads them on the counter. Maybe 50 coins. He tells me "take your pick for $15". After some time, likely too much time for the tobacconist, I pick out the shiniest, cleanest of the bunch and start my type set.

 

Many years later, this coin is slabbed as an MS64 (since sold). I wish I could say that I was a precocious grader, but picking the best coin out of 50 really isn't too tough when they're laid side-by-side. Hey, maybe I'm on to something.

 

[RWB]

Gold was at its cheapest in real-dollar terms in the late 50s and 1960s. As you noted, there was little interest except as jewelry, and exceptional pieces could be located for little more than common - and most at a few dollars above melt. But, sadly, the Enterprise and her crew cannot go back in time - the stream only flows downhill, and entropy will always win.

[physics-fan3.14]

If I had a time machine, I think I would go back a little farther and get them straight from the mint

 

Cool story, though.

[Walkerfan]

Great story! Bet you wish you'd have bought the whole box. I don't have too many regrets but there are a few that I wish that I could time travel on. Best to you!

[numisport]

Knowing what I know today, in 1957 I would have been well off to hand pick all the high grade 1957 heavy cameo pennies and nickels. If I was able to return to 2017 with those coins I would have great rarities today.

[PocketArt]

I'd take a time machine ride back to early 2000; would have ditched my Lucky Charms, and gone on a serious Cheerios binge....

 

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/279/

[SkyMan]

Fun story!

 

It's Silicon Valley out here. If we're gonna' go back to 1957, I'd rather buy some shares of a start-up founded during that year. Here are a few in alphabetical order...

 

Burger King, Cavalier Aircraft, Digital Equipment Corp, Dunlop Sport, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Food Lion, HoneyBaked Ham, Hyatt, JBC etc. etc.

[johnny9434]

If I had a time machine, I think I would go back a little farther and get them straight from the mint

 

Cool story, though.

id love to do the same

[coinman_23885]

Fun story!

 

It's Silicon Valley out here. If we're gonna' go back to 1957, I'd rather buy some shares of a start-up founded during that year. Here are a few in alphabetical order...

 

Burger King, Cavalier Aircraft, Digital Equipment Corp, Dunlop Sport, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Food Lion, HoneyBaked Ham, Hyatt, JBC etc. etc.

 

Let's just go back to the 1980s-1990s and buy stock in Yahoo, Google, AOL, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.

[coinman_23885]

What were the prices of the 1804 dollars, 1894-s proof Barber dime, 1913 Liberty Head nickels, and the like back in 1957?

[LINCOLNMAN]

What were the prices of the 1804 dollars, 1894-s proof Barber dime, 1913 Liberty Head nickels, and the like back in 1957?

 

Well beyond my paper route budget, but I seem to recall Redbook numbers around $100-200k. If I'm close, not great investments for the 60 year time span.

[thebeav]

That's a good story.

 

I bought my first gold coin in 1969. A mexico 5 peso at a cost of 18 bucks......

 

Paul

[Conder101]

What were the prices of the 1804 dollars, 1894-s proof Barber dime, 1913 Liberty Head nickels, and the like back in 1957?

I don't know about the 1804 dollar or the 1913 V Nickel off the top of my head but the 1894-S dime was about $5,000 at the time. But there were any proof ones just business strikes. They didn't become proofs till years later just like the 1913 V Nickels were all business strikes at that time as well.

 

Well beyond my paper route budget, but I seem to recall Redbook numbers around $100-200k.

Too high, the first coin to crack the 100K barrier was the 1913 V Nickel or the 1804 dollar in 1972. (They sold as a pair for $180K. The nickel was figured at $100K and the dollar at 80K.)

[bstrauss3]

I had a working time machine.

I sent it back to 1600 to take a picture of the wilds of Maine.

Unfortunately, I screwed up the Gregorian/Julian date conversion...

 

If anybody finds my time machine with it's cell phone, please call me.