1800 Dollar - Advice Needed Please

Sorry Colonialjohn, I don't follow your message. You'll need to spell it out to me.
It's true that I want to sell without too much hassle, for a reasonable price. It is difficult when I'm in Scotland and I have to post it overseas for authentication and then have to think about an auction house.
I'm happy for a dealer to make a decent profit, but don't want to be ripped off.

Thanks for the translation Ssuperddave.
Yes I do intend to sell it, so I guess I'll have to send it over. The dealer I spoke to in Edinburgh strongly recommended that I didn't send it to PCGS nor get it slabbed.

That would effectively dismiss the US audience for your coin, which means 95% of all interested bidders. A coin of this magnitude is inappropriate in a public auction outside a slab. Indeed, were I you I'd be considering a US venue such as Heritage or Stacks/Bowers for the liquidation - although Spinks enjoys a deserved stellar reputation, the US audience is unlikely to be tracking Spinks auctions.

My move would be to contact Marc Emory at Heritage Auctions. He oversees Heritage's Continental operations - they have three locally-staffed offices in Europe. If you choose to consign with Heritage, they will likely also be able to handle authentication and slabbing for you. On the other hand, slabbing first would be an immediate qualification for their attention.

http://coins.ha.com/common/about.php?target=europe

This dealer sounds like a real snake. Not only is this coin not at all common here in the US (especially in decent to high grade), but the demand for this coin is going to be much, much higher here in the US than elsewhere.

And telling you to not bother having it graded and slabbed is likely just so you don't find out how much of a low-ball offer he was giving you.

what a great success story, amazing help here. Bravo.

Troy, mailing insurance can be a problem. you might also ask Heritage if they have a private insurance carrier they can recommend to get the coin to them. The private option is often much less expensive.

Glad to hear Heritage thinks as highly of your coin as we do, troyster! Did you know it was designed and executed by a Scot? Literally, anyway; it's not clear whether Robert Scot came from Scotland or England before he ended up cutting dies in Philadelphia. By accounts, most considered him something of a jerk, but that artistic temperament; what can you do?

And if anyone hasn't ever really taken a good look at the Draped Bust design on a well-preserved specimen, of the size of a dollar, which can do it justice, go back to the first page of this thread and spend some time on the pics. That ribbon isn't just stuck on the back of her head; it's drawing back and shaping her tresses. This is a work of art.

You can, but since they don't insure coins, even collectable coins (it's in their terms), if something happens to it they will not pay off on the insurance.

A courier service would probably be too expensive. It is possible to get private insurance on a shipped item. I would agree with talking to Heritage about the shipping problem. They do have private shipping insurance and they may be able to help you find a private insurer or even a way to cover it under their insurance. Talk to Heritage.

"Details" means there's damage to the coin, so the grader will only go so far as to say that the "details" of the coin are AU-50, but the overall coin is something worse.