I have really been focusing on adding gold in forms from
ebay that yield
ebay bucks. If you buy much on
ebay and have not signed up for
ebay bucks, you are missing out on free money as since I run so much stock through store via old toys and race cars and such I accumulate many
ebay bucks FOUR times a year every quarter and last quarter I got a French 20 Franc Rooster which I still own which was 270 at
APMEX and I only had to put 20 bucks of my own cash with the 250
ebay buck certificate....
My point about the bucks, I don't buy 1-10 bullion and such as THEY DON'T yield bucks. Where as old world gold, and commemorative gold coins do. They are always dirt cheap close to spot via Constitution 1987 and 1986 Liberty .24 near quarter oz. gold piece. So I let the
ebay bucks DICTATE what I buy and old gold just really does not get much better....
Like one old fellow I bought a 10 dollar Indian I will list pics of here below said his late grandfather once said in reference to old gold coins-They aint making any more of them you boys better get as many as you can now and put them away....
My thoughts of this thread I always am wondering gold content of many of these old gold coins and many seller don't take the time to list accurate info or assume one knows already so I figured a little copy an paste history and gold content and pics is nice reference point....
This coin below is one of my all time favorites little doubt, perhaps one of the most sought after old gold coins at near a half oz. at 90% composition gold and .48375 troy oz. of pure gold. Note the 10 dollar Cornet head or Liberty has a bit more gold content at .4838 most interesting....
This is a nice gem 1915 which I am very happy to have in my collection....
Here is a copy and paste below from Provident one of my favorite sites take on the pieces history....
"The golden era of American coinage grew out of a president's trip to a museum. In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt attended an exhibition of ancient Greek coins at the Smithsonian and was greatly impressed by their artistic beauty and symbolic power. In comparison, he felt American coins were altogether bland and unworthy of our nation. He envisioned an entire new generation of coins that would represent the greatness of an America awakening to its emerging power and importance in the world, and he knew just the man who could pull it off: the great sculptor of his inauguration medal, Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
In 1905, Saint-Gaudens was not only the most prominent sculptor in the country, he was one of the most important American artists of any kind. Directly embodying the spirit of the American Renaissance, Saint-Gaudens was a colossal figure in the fine arts world whose influence reached across the continent. Upon hearing of Roosevelt's desire for a reworking of the nation's coinage, Saint-Gaudens readily agreed to take up the challenge and began work on the Double Eagle $20 and Eagle $10 gold pieces immediately.
Saint-Gaudens passed away before he could complete designs for the entire run of American coins, but he did leave us with two masterpieces. The Eagle's obverse is taken directly from his monument to General William T. Sherman in New York's Central Park. It depicts Lady Liberty in profile facing left and wearing the Native American feathered war bonnet that President Roosevelt insisted upon. The reverse of the coin captures a bold American eagle standing proudly on a bundle of arrows beneath the inscriptions "United States of America".
Saint-Gaudens Indian Head Eagles were minted from 1907 through 1933 in Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco ("S" mintmark), and Denver ("D"), are composed of .90% gold yielding .48375 troy ounces of pure gold per coin, and measure 27mm in diameter."
Next up Gold Cornet 10 dollar piece and this is my coin as well a nice 1906D or Detroit or Motto for motor city I assume perhaps as you see that on back of flip and variantion 2 meaning multipule designs of this year and coin perhaps....
Copy and paste of history from Provident below....
"10$ Liberty Head Gold Eagles, containing .4838 Troy Ounces of Pure Gold. Each coin weighs 16.718 grams, has a diameter of 27mm and will arrive polished or cleaned.
Minted from 1838 to 1907, $10 Liberty Gold Eagles were designed by
Christian Gobrecht, Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1840 to 1844. With a reeded edge, the obverse of each Coronet was inspired by Benjamin West's painting of Venus in Omnia Vincit Amor (Love Conquers All).
Lady Liberty's hair is in a bun, with loose curls cascading down her neck. A coronet is placed on her head, inscribed with the word LIBERTY. She is surrounded by 13 stars and the date is just beneath her. In 1839, Gobrecht changed the design slightly, centering Liberty's bust directly above the date, where it remained for the next 68 years.
The reverse of each $10 Gold Liberty features a bald eagle, wings spread wide with a shield across his chest. Arrows and an olive branch are grasped in his talons. The coin is inscribed with the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and its denomination, TEN D.
Above the eagle is a banner that reads IN GOD WE TRUST, added to the coin- - "due to nationwide post-Civil War sentiment- - "by Chief Engraver
James Barton Longacre in 1866. Mintmarks are located just below the eagle."
Next up the 2.5 dollar Indian and Cornet and these are both more coins form my collection via the Indian 1914D and the 1853 2.5 Cornet....
Copy and paste below from Provident on history of Cornet 2.5 and gold content....
The Liberty Head Quarter Eagle $2.5 gold pieces introduced in 1840 shared a design with the new Eagles of 1838 and the Half Eagles of 1839, thus continuing the Mint's long tradition of uniformity among the nation's coins. Acting Engraver
Christian Gobrecht, whose artistic style was heavily influenced by the Neoclassicism of the day, was charged with designing the new gold pieces. The Half Eagles' obverse, inspired by Benjamin West's famous painting Omnia Vincit Amor ("Love Conquers All"), depicts a left-facing bust of Liberty, hair knotted in back with hanging curls, wearing a coronet inscribed "Liberty". The reverse features a very naturalistic American eagle holding arrows and an olive branch in its talons with a shield across its breast. By looking backward to antiquity, Gobrecht's design offered the American people an aura of stability and assurance in a time of great social and technological change.
Liberty Head Quarter Eagles were minted in two slight variations from 1840 through 1907 in Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco ("S" mintmark), Charlotte, North Carolina ("C"), Dahlonega, Georgia ("D"), and New Orleans ("O"), are composed of .90% gold yielding .12094 troy ounces of pure gold per coin, and measure 18mm in diameter.
Here is my 1914D Indian 2.5 below....
Copy and paste on history form Provident below....
"While the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle of 1907 is widely thought to be the most beautiful coin in American numismatic history, the Indian Head Quarter Eagle $2.5 gold piece that debuted the following year may be the most daring. The quality that sets these coins apart from all others stylistically is their unprecedented incuse relief: unlike any other modern design, the images and inscriptions on the Indian Head Quarter Eagle are sunken into the surface of the coin.
The revolutionary idea for minting an American coin with incuse relief bears the mark of two men: the young and dynamic President Roosevelt, eager to leave a mark on the country, and his good friend, physician and art lover William Sturgis Bigelow. Bigelow approached the president with the idea for a coin with recessed features after seeing an exhibition of ancient Egyptian coins with a similar design at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Roosevelt was soon taken with the desire to apply the idea to an American coin. With the president's blessing, Bigelow moved forward with the project, challenging Boston artist Bela-Lyon Pratt with the commission. Pratt sculpted an obverse depicting a Native American in full headdress surrounded by thirteen stars with an American eagle standing atop fasces and an olive branch - symbols of military preparedness and peace, respectively - on the reverse, and the Indian Head Quarter Eagle was born.
Indian Head Quarter Eagles were minted from 1908 through 1929 in Philadelphia (no mintmark) and Denver ("D"), are composed of .90% gold yielding .12094 troy ounces of pure gold per coin, and measure 18mm in diameter"
Note gold content of FIVE dollar Cornet or Indian is 90% composition gold at .24187 troy oz. of pure gold and I will skip pictures as I dont have a five dollar indian yet and I do have a nice MS-63 five dolar Cotrnet head on way but no pics of it yet and since I just profiled the 2.5 of each above why waste more time and space....
Next up one of my new favorites and VERY popular design for such low gold content, the 1 dollar Indian Princess and cornet head. I hknow the US mints made many types of 1 dollar gold pieces, octagon shaped many much fake etc. but for now lets just focus on these main two which often bring 250 to 400 each and upper 500 and up on high rare graded examples....
A copy an paste on the Indian princess history....
"These are wonderful, tiny gold coins minted by the US government from 1854 to 1889. The coin in our picture is especially nice looking, so it will command good value. Coins with less eye appeal will be worth far less. But, remember:
The
Red Book, a popular US price guide, lists these coins as follows:
worn: $150 US dollars
average circulated: $250
well preserved: $300
fully uncirculated (like our picture): $500
These are catalog values for common date coins. Actual values will be less, as described on our Important Terminology page. There are many special dates, see below. If you have one of these coins, take it to a knowledgeable collector or a coin dealer for an in-person appraisal.
You can figure the basic value of the gold content by mulitplying the current price of gold by 0.0484; there are 0.0484 troy ounces of gold in one of these coins. For instance, if the price of gold is $1100 per troy ounce (use kitco.com to look it up; it changes daily), then the base value is 0.0484 x 1100 = $53 US dollars.
The values above are for coins with common dates, which are most dates in the series. In general, if a coin has a C or D mint mark, it is worth somewhat more than a common date coin. There are a few *better dates* which command significantly higher value. The list below gives approximate catalog values for better dates and mint marks in average circulated condition:
1855C: $4000
1855D: $12000
1856D: $6000
1858D: $2000
1860D: $4200
1861D: $22000
1875: $4500
In addition to these Princess Head gold dollars, there are also Liberty Head gold dollars minted between 1849 and 1854."
Lastly MS-63 St. Gauden 1 oz. gem. Got lucky and won this belwo normal cost perhaps via that crack in PCGS case from a drop but coin capsule is intact and hey MS-63 Gaudens are not growing on trees that is a 2k coin all day IMO....
Copy and paste on the hisotry from Provident below....
"The most beautiful coin in American history grew out of a president's trip to a museum. In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt attended an exhibition of ancient Greek coins at the Smithsonian and was greatly impressed by their artistic beauty and symbolic power. In comparison, he felt American coins were altogether bland and unworthy of our nation. He envisioned an entire new generation of coins that would represent the greatness of an America awakening to its emerging power and importance in the world, and he knew just the man who could pull it off, the great sculptor of his inauguration medal, Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
In 1905, Saint-Gaudens was not only the most prominent sculptor in the country, he was one of the most important artists of any kind. Directly embodying the spirit of the American Renaissance, Saint-Gaudens was a colossal figure in the fine arts world whose influence reached across the continent. Upon hearing of Roosevelt's desire for a reworking of the nation's coinage, Saint-Gaudens readily agreed to take up the challenge and began work on the Double Eagle $20 gold piece that would eventually bear his name.
Saint-Gaudens passed away before he could complete designs for the entire run of American coins, but he did leave us with his masterpiece. The Double Eagle's obverse is taken directly from his monument to General William T. Sherman in New York's Central Park. It depicts Lady Liberty striding toward the viewer from out of a rising sun, hair flowing, with a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left. The inscription Liberty is boldly struck above her head. The reverse of the coin captures a bold American eagle in flight above the rays of a rising sun, with the inscriptions "United States of America" and "Twenty Dollars" arching across the top. The Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle is a dazzling coin and a powerful testament to a nation growing into its power.
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles were minted from 1907 through 1933 in Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco ("S" mintmark), and Denver ("D"), are composed of .90% gold yielding .9675 troy ounces of pure gold per coin, and measure 34mm in diameter."
I will add some more modern day coins and other old world coins form other countrys later, but I am stopping for now with the basic US gold coins or atleast the basic ones in my mind anyhow, hope this info helps some in their hunt and please share any thoughts or pcitures of your own.....
Posted 07/31/2013 09:57 am
