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 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,679 |
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Valued Member
United States
153 Posts |
Hello all, today I purchased an uncertified 1904 $20 Liberty off of ebay. It is the first Liberty $20 that I have ever owned, and naturally I am excited about it. The 1904 date is very common though, and perhaps I would have preferred a lower grading, more scarce date. It looks as though the coin was cracked out of a PCGS MS63 holder at some point (maybe to put into a 7070?) I would definetly consider sending it in to be re-graded if I am looking to sell it in the future. The winning bid was $1895; how did I do? Here is the coin: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1904-20-Gol...p=true&rt=nc |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
In general without having any interaction with a seller before a picture of a broken pcgs case means nothing to me, nothing says that coin was ever in there but I'm just speaking as a general rule of thumb. Assuming its real Id say you did alright, that seems to be about standard for ebay since after fees the seller will end up with just about melt value. |
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Valued Member
 United States
153 Posts |
Yes, good points. I e-mailed the seller an hour before the auction ended trying to confirm if it was the same exact coin in the holder etc. No response yet. I understand that he will be selling this coin probably under melt value after EBay/PayPal fees. But for me, as a buyer, are there better places to buy classic gold coins like this one for even less? (Coin shows/fair dealers maybe?)
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
As a buyer you probably could find common gold coins a little cheaper at shops or other sites than ebay, but everyone will be charging something above melt so the savings may be minimal depending what shops you have around you |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
You did well. If the coin makes the purported MS63 grade; you have to make that determination quickly after you receive it. Post images here posthaste (pun intended) if you can so we might weigh in. It's a very fair price for you if the coin makes 63, at the current price of gold you'd have legroom to cover the cost of resubmitting.
But this one doesn't have a bunch of value over melt. You'd need that MS63, and you'd need the price of gold to maintain, so you have to plan it as a no-less-than medium-term investment.
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Valued Member
United States
153 Posts |
Another important dilemma is whether or not this is the right time to buy Gold. When I purchased this set in 2005 or so, it is most unfortunate that I did not complete the gold page right then and there. The entire set, but especially the gold page, would have been so much more doable... One school of thought believes that the dollar is dying and Gold could even hit 5K-10K/oz. And it's also possible that the spot price could fall down to 2001 levels trading for $300-400 an ounce again. Or it could sustain it's current level for many years to come. I just don't know. What do you gold academics think?
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Theres really no way to tell. If you plan to keep the set for a long time its not a huge deal, but if you plan to flip it Id personally stay away from gold. Theres no real way to tell what itll do. Most of the people advising 5k-10k+ have a financial interest in it doing so. What we do know is it sees a lot of resistance around 2k, and the higher the price the fewer people buying and the more people selling which brings it back down.
I personally dont buy the 5k talk, to many people would be priced out of the market at that range, it could reach that but I dont see it staying long term and if it is that bad buying gold coins will probably be one of the last things on your mind. Most likely itll bounce between 1500-1900 for the foreseeable future or next presidential election depending what happens. Maybe a dip if the world doesn't end in a few weeks and a boost when healthcare kicks in but unless you have millions to buy and sell and actually affect the price yourself the best you can do is take an educated guess
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
I would have bought a slabbed one just to protect it
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
 with mkman123. I see so many coins that " were" slabbed previously only to be sold later for quite a bit less than they would have if they were left in their cozy little holders. It is real difficult to determine if the slab insert really belonged to the coin depicted. I have bought a couple of ex-(fill in the blank) TOP III slabs but only after I seen some sort of evidence that it was the actual coin...at least I was satisfied in making that determination. Edited by oih82w8
11/29/2012 1:02 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
What I want to know is why did he list a $2k gold coin under .Consumer Electronics > Portable Audio & Headphones > iPods & MP3 Players ?  You're probably ok, as long as it is genuine. It has decent luster, at least AU-58....but the its hard to make out the fine details that would make or break a 63. |
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Valued Member
United States
153 Posts |
Right, it is definetly a concern buying an expensive coin like this one uncertified, that it may not only be inappropriately graded, but fake! Is there an easy way to tell a counterfeit from the real thing with Type 3 Liberties? I do not have a working scale, but I understand that each coin is supposed to weigh 33.46 grams and also supposed to have a 33m diameter. In addition, I read that there is always a mark through the Y in Liberty on genuine examples.. I also hope that I would be able to discern an obvious fake from the real thing. But, a good fake might still pass those tests, and I should probably have it examined by a professional. What other features should I look for?
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Valued Member
United States
243 Posts |
Most if not all that sellers coins are listed in the same category you mentioned above johnny54321.
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Really  swcoin.ecrater.com
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Valued Member
United States
153 Posts |
The price of gold is down nearly $25 today. Considering that I just invested in an expensive $20 gold piece, this sucks. I am still quite excited though as the coin should be arriving today via FedEx, and I figure that I did not do too badly if the coin is really an ex-MS63 PCGS. So perhaps I should wait for the price of gold to melt down to $500 or so before buying anymore gold coins?! Are we going to see a steady decline in the price of gold? Or is this just a temporary setback? Interestingly, the stock market and the price of gold seem to have an inverse relationship. However, today, both are losers.
I hope to post some pictures of this newest acquisition, and also the completed silver/copper 7070 type set. I am thinking that I should scan the whole thing, but have heard that the quality of the photos are much better with a digital camera. I have an outdated Canon PowerShot but don't know how to use the macro zooming properly...
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Valued Member
United States
366 Posts |
Enjoy you coin but don't watch gold prices daily or you'll have a rolly-coaster year! If we know what gold prices would do, we'd all be very rich.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
Looks like it could be a 63 but with the seller's images there's no way to tell. Let us know how it works out. The price was good for a 63.
P.S. There is no scenario imaginable that would take gold near $500/oz. $1,000/oz maybe.
Edited by BH1964
12/04/2012 3:01 pm
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Replies: 18 / Views: 2,679 |
Posted 11/28/2012 9:49 pm
