Wtc Ground Zero Coins

As I said, the information is verified on PCGS's website, not just the grade but also the insert indicating that the coin came from that hoard. I don't see how that could be the case if this was a con.

I'm sorry to hear that SuperDave. I rarely buy on impulse, but this looked important to me. I probably should have listened to my inner miser, but I didn't. Also, I probably should have consulted the Community here before I did it, but once I determined that the coin was genuinely what it claimed to be, I couldn't think of any objections.

I hope it's not going to be a source of regret. Everyone has a 9/11 story and I'm no exception. I live in New York City and watched the whole thing unfold from a 17th story window across the East River, so it seemed pretty incredible (and somewhat emotional) to find out that a safe could have the entire North Tower fall on it and still survive. In any case, I definitely have to "make room" for the coin now, whether it's as important as I thought at first or not, meaning I have to sell something. I'm glad I got one with a grade though.

UPDATE: The coin arrived today, less than 24 hours after ordering. That's apparantly because it was shipped from Brooklyn to Manhattan. It's quite beautiful, as you would expect an Eagle to be. It has a satin, rather than matte, finish. I'm probably going to be glad to have this. Thanks very much SuperDave and TSmith for your comments.

The vast majority of precious metals recovered from the WTC site was from the COMEX vaults (COMEX is the metals trading division of the New York Mercantile Exchange) in the sub-basement areas of the WTC complex. The most prevalent form was in bars but also US gold, silver, and platinum bullion Eagles, and foreign silver, gold, platinum, and palladium bullion coins.

The COMEX vaults held precious metals for the active commodities trading market but they also stored precious metals for clients. After most of the debris of WTC had been cleaned up, access to the basement area was possible. The vaults were uncovered and the contents were moved to other secure locations in the New York area.

A client that stored Silver American Eagles in the COMEX vaults on Sept 11 would have paperwork proving that those Eagles were there on that tragic day and they would be able to get the provenance listed on the slab. I believe that many more than 1,000 coins were slabbed as I remember counting over 100 separate listings on ebay alone in 2003 or 2004 when I first heard about them.

When a slab lists "Gem BU" that is a sign of a mass submission of hundreds or thousands of coins. It takes less time and is less expensive to grade a large quantity coins when you only have to determine that they are truly mint state. It all comes down to who submitted the coin- the largest holders probably did a bulk submission while some smaller holders had them graded accurately.

Here is a quote from David Hall (PCGS) on the subject.

PCGS Answer: On the death coins. This was one of the toughest and touchiest decisions we ever made.
In the months following Sept 11, we were approached on numerous occasions to do coin-related projects. We rejected all the projects except one PCGS project from one source. After considerable thought, we decided to do the one PCGS project because we knew the people handling the deal very well, they assured us that everything would be handled in the best possible way, and they assured us a hefty donation would be made to the victims. It is our understanding that there are 4 direct retailers of these coins, that the two largest have committed to donating between 6% and 12% of the gross sales price to the fireman/victims funds, and that the largest retailer has raised close to $400,000 for the funds.
It was certainly not our intention to participate in anything that is disrespectful to our country or the victims of our National tragedy. I hope this is explains what we did and why we did it. Like I said, it was a touchy decision.


And on a related note here is a quarter PCGS specialy slabbed to auction off on the forum to raise money for the firefighters/police and familes effected. The auction raised about $45,000.

Joe

Your welcome Stephen420. I live in Kearny,NJ which is 15 miles due west of ground zero and has a view of the NY skyline. As an electrician in construction I often work on the Jersey City waterfront which as I'm sure you realize is directly across the Hudson River from ground zero. My birthday also happens to be Sept. 11(1962) so a day which should be happy often makes me sad as I also saw the towers burn etc... and it is no longer a good day for me.
I look at those coins as a piece of history to help us remember what happened and teach those that did not witness it. These I feel fall into the same catagory as shipwreck coins. And as such if shown respect desearv a place in the collections of those who chose to own them.
Joe

A little off topic, but in 1999 I took our two sons to New York City. It was the first, and, as of now, our only trip to NYC.

I can remember standing on Battery Island and looking at the Twin Towers. I am pleased that we got to see them while they were still standing.