1852 Twenty Dollars, Liberty Head

Thank you for your reply. Does it mean that this coin has only a bullion value (value of gold) in your opinion?

@pepactonius

I'm sorry - I think I don't understand. I thought that all 20$ coins released between 1849 and 1933 were made with clean gold? Maybe I missunderstood meaning of "bulliion coin".

@kkirby99

Thank you for your help. Now I see. Could you advise me what is the best way to sell such coin?

By "bullion coin" I meant a coin that sells for melt value plus some percentage, 3% to 15%, for example. Common date US Liberty 20's in average condition from the late 1870s through 1907 are the cheapest.

The 1852 $20 has a higher numismatic premium than the later ones.

Welcome to Coin Community, athenna83. A very interesting coin for your first post here.

This was a pretty common coin in terms of the overall mintage, being the third-highest mintage of the series prior to 1898. However, they circulated quite heavily, and are now very rare in Uncirculated condition. That scarcity helps to keep prices of Almost Uncirculated versions high, which will be of importance here.

Gold is graded a bit more generously than coins of other metals, because it wears so much more quickly and picks up scratches easily. Of the places where one looks first for wear on these, I see relatively little. To my mind, an appropriate grade for this coin would be about AU53, perhaps AU50 at the very worst.

The normal advice for liquidating a coin such as this one would be to have it graded and authenticated by a major Third-Party Grading Service ( TPG) and offered via one of the major auction houses. Your location in Europe makes this more difficult, as each of the two major TPGs have few locations in Europe to be of assistance. You would probably need to partner with a local dealer who has existing affiliation with those TPGs - PCGS in Paris or NGC in Konstanz, Germany - to have your coin graded. They require memberships to submit coins for grading, and that might not be cost-effective for you.

Selling it to a dealer would be much worse for you, as the dealer needs to make a profit on the resale and you would be the one paying for that profit with a lesser price.

If this coin is adjudicated authentic and of original surfaces - and I see no reason to doubt its' surfaces - in the grade of AU53 it should realize about double the current melt value of US$1138.94. Something between $2000 and $2500, I would think.

I think it goes around AU-50. Not a bad looking coin for being 160+ years old!

AU-50