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Biggest Story of the Year

45 posts in this topic

  • Member: Seasoned Veteran

I'm surprised that no one on the boards has commented on NGC's certification of the fourth known 1854-S half eagle. There was certainly plenty of excitement around here:

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/6557/discovery-of-a-lifetime-1854-s-five-dollar/

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We were waiting for you to post this...it is BIG NEWS as it was splattered ATS. Laughing, ppl over there saying now if it would only cross!

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Agreed. 

Unlike so many other high profile US coins which actually have little if any distinction outside of the hugely inflated price tag, this is a classic (as in traditional and long time) US rarity.  I'd rate it the #2 half eagle behind the 1822.

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The bigger Story of the Year is that it took two days to even start a thread on this coin, here at "ground zero," and that the thread had to be started by NGC's Research Director, no less.

 

I got the email from NGC on Wednesday, announcing it.  Then I sort of brushed it off because other interests vied for my attention.

But I came back to it today, and I was going to start a thread on it just now, to ask everyone:  What gives with you guys?!!!  No thread??????  Anyone?????

 

Anyway, it is quite a find.

I still have to wonder about the owner, and how did he come upon the coin, how long has he owned it?  Did he pay a lot for it?  These kinds of questions.

 

Cool holder, with the special label, and all.  And it's already written up, and included in the Coin Explorer for the coin.

 

If I had that coin, I don't know, I'd sit on it, with it in a SDB… at Fort Knox!!! :roflmao:

That is, if I had enough money to get by without selling it.

 

We all know where this goes now, right?

The media is going to be all over this once it breaks.  It's like finding Forrest Fenn's Treasure Chest.

 

So glad NCG encapsulated it!  Looks great in the holder!

And makes me feel better about one of my gold coins that has a little black around a dentil, like this coin below its gap between the "1" and the "8."

Funny how all of the 1854-S Half Eagles all go for $4,500,000 +/-  $250,000.

:popcorn:

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Casman, I thought the same thing. No backstory. Dude is remaining anonymous. What's up with that? And,I gotta wonder how they could tell it wasn't the stolen one after so many years. Too many questions to get super excited. I didn't even see a picture of it.

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I guess I don't appreciate the significance, since I don't know as much about gold coins as I do other coin series.  Great job though!

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51 minutes ago, erwindoc said:

I guess I don't appreciate the significance, since I don't know as much about gold coins as I do other coin series.  Great job though!

I suspect there is a difference in perception between "older" and "younger" collectors.  Since the last sale (Pogue coin) occurred in 1982, "most "younger" collectors have never seen it come up for sale and it's "out of sight, out of mind".  The same applies to other traditional "ultra elite" coins such as the 1822 half eagle.

For those of us who are older or somewhat older, I remember it from the Red Book as an entry where there was no price listed by grade, only a prior auction or the number known.  This is why it stood out to me.

Of course, now there are other coins which were described likewise that I don't think amount to much of anything, so it's all relative.  The primary example being the 1861 Pacquet reverse double eagle which I consider the most overrated coin in all of US numismatics.

Today, I'd rate the 1854-S half eagle #2 among half eagles,  Concurrently, many or even most other denominations don't have any "ultra elite" coins by my standards.  This includes the cent, quarter, half, gold dollar, quarter eagle and eagle.

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I also seen this ATS. I read the article but had to jump off the thread as most of it turned to crossing to pcgs. Pretty cool find!

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Thought it was totally cool (especially the 'crack out proof' holder serial #), but it's so far out of my collecting realm it didn't even cross my mind to post about it.  Even so, an excellent story/coin!  

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Wonderful find of an exceedingly rare coin.  What a windfall  for the owner.  I would love to know the details surrounding its discovery.  The NGC slab is really cool with its custom serial number and special label designation---I hope that it stays in there.  I read the whole article and it's a great story.  Congratulations NGC!!

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On 4/20/2018 at 5:36 PM, casman said:

It's posted on the home page.  It's neat but there's no backstory, just that it appeared and it's rare.

 

That is what I thought as well when I clicked on my email and then read the article. 

I also thought that you guys must not really think it was such a special find since you didn't even take the time to make sure your database was accurate and a reflection of the actual coin.

In time I hope we can learn more about the find. It would be interesting. 

 

NGC_1854_S.jpg

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On 4/20/2018 at 11:04 PM, KarenHolcomb said:

Casman, I thought the same thing. No backstory. Dude is remaining anonymous. What's up with that? And,I gotta wonder how they could tell it wasn't the stolen one after so many years. Too many questions to get super excited. I didn't even see a picture of it.

NGC determined it wasn’t the “stolen one” by comparing the discovery coin to pictures of the former.

 

Curiously, do you really not understand or appreciate why the owner might wish to remain anonymous?

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3 hours ago, MarkFeld said:

Curiously, do you really not understand or appreciate why the owner might wish to remain anonymous?

Only one person in a thousand, perhaps fewer, would have anything to gain from such publicity. Of course, there may be a few folks who would enjoy frivolous lawsuits, being harassed for money, being robbed in their home, being targeted by a variety of nut jobs, etc. Maybe unwanted attention is better than none at all for some.

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On 4/20/2018 at 12:56 PM, DWLange said:

It's in our new crack-out-proof holder!

Please explain how the holder defies cracking-out.

My guess is that if you cracked it out to cross-it-over to the competition's holder, the coin would lose the "cool" slab ID number, and the "cool" Discovery of a Lifetime subtitle.

So, with all that to lose, no one would want to crack-it-out just to include it in their "registry" for registry-point-value gain.

A quick check of the competition's available numbers, to compete with NGC's 001854-001 "cool"  verification number, reveals that a 1924 $20 Saint, MS 63 already exists in a slab having a number even close to NGC's "cool" number, btw.

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17 minutes ago, USAuPzlBxBob said:

Please explain how the holder defies cracking-out.

My guess is that if you cracked it out to cross-it-over to the competition's holder, the coin would lose the "cool" slab ID number, and the "cool" Discovery of a Lifetime subtitle.

So, with all that to lose, no one would want to crack-it-out just to include it in their "registry" for registry-point-value gain.

A quick check of the competition's available numbers, to compete with NGC's 001854-001 "cool"  verification number, reveals that a 1924 $20 Saint, MS 63 already exists in a slab having a number even close to NGC's "cool" number, btw.

I took David's post about a crack proof holder as a joke. 

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5 minutes ago, Star City Homer said:

Just being silly...but tone does not always convey well.  If nothing else, the post office is pretty good at cracking slabs. 

 

broken slab combo.jpg

Looks like it went through the sort machine.  Was that yours?

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On 4/22/2018 at 2:20 PM, MarkFeld said:

NGC determined it wasn’t the “stolen one” by comparing the discovery coin to pictures of the former.

 

Curiously, do you really not understand or appreciate why the owner might wish to remain anonymous?

Well, it seemed to me some time had passed between the theft and the find, and while it's like winning the lottery and some of those winners want to remain anonymous, dude could have at least revealed if he found ut on the beach or it was inherited or some kind of tale as to how it was found. Could have given a new hobbyist like me a reason to keep going with hope when we read about how everything cool is already being hoarded by old time collectors. So curiously, did you have to be rude?

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21 minutes ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Well, it seemed to me some time had passed between the theft and the find, and while it's like winning the lottery and some of those winners want to remain anonymous, dude could have at least revealed if he found ut on the beach or it was inherited or some kind of tale as to how it was found. Could have given a new hobbyist like me a reason to keep going with hope when we read about how everything cool is already being hoarded by old time collectors. So curiously, did you have to be rude?

A backstory would have been interesting and unthreatening to the seller, good point Karen.

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1 hour ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Well, it seemed to me some time had passed between the theft and the find, and while it's like winning the lottery and some of those winners want to remain anonymous, dude could have at least revealed if he found ut on the beach or it was inherited or some kind of tale as to how it was found. Could have given a new hobbyist like me a reason to keep going with hope when we read about how everything cool is already being hoarded by old time collectors. So curiously, did you have to be rude?

I’m sorry you took my question to you that way. Yes, the owner could have disclosed details and made things more interesting and more exciting. But I can certainly understand his choosing not to do so. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Could have given a new hobbyist like me a reason to keep going with hope when we read about how everything cool is already being hoarded by old time collectors. 

Only a low proportion of the consensus or supposedly most desirable coins are being hoarded.  Most coins are available for those who have the money.  Most coins aren't remotely hard to buy, though from my experience US collectors use contrived definitions of "scarcity" to exaggerate the significance of what they like and justify the exorbitantly inflated US price level..

However, the chances of this kind of find are no better or worse now versus 43 years ago when I started collecting and to my knowledge, previously.  At all times, effectively zero.

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Just from the limited back story, the coin is probably from an inherited collection.  It just has that vibe.

  1. It has always been "raw."
  2. It's a gold coin.
  3. Current owner shows the coin to dealers at shows and is told it is probably counterfeit.
  4. Coin is sent for authentication.
  5. Owner is incredulous when told coin is genuine.

The story will slowly leak out; it's too good to keep secret forever.

Also, the story, itself, has value.  So, that has to be marketed to the highest bidder.  Especially in this day and age of media hype and frenzy.

"I know a friend who knows a friend whose sister's brother's friend's father had a gold coin collect, and you'll never guess what…"

But it's also one of these things of who are your real friends, and who can you trust.

So, whoever it is, that person should move slowly.

 

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3 hours ago, MarkFeld said:

I’m sorry you took my question to you that way. Yes, the owner could have disclosed details and made things more interesting and more exciting. But I can certainly understand his choosing not to do so. 

 

 

Thanks, me too. And I apologize. It's been a day from spoons, as JKK taught me to say, and I have taken many things wrong today. Please forgive me.

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6 minutes ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Thanks, me too. And I apologize. It's been a day from spoons, as JKK taught me to say, and I have taken many things wrong today. Please forgive me.

Nothing to forgive.(thumbsu

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