Lowball US Gold Coins

I'm sitting here wishing I could!!

Yes, Bad color from sidelighting. The coin looks like it was hit by a pickaxe or a shovel.

Lowball gold coins - a collecting field I'm glad never appealed to me.

My interest in the lowballs stems partly from my oldest collecting interest, in filling Whitman folders and stamp books. It goes back generations. You felt lucky to just find a coin that filled the hole, no matter what the condition. The rarest holes never got filled and were the big challenge. That 1859-S is far rarer than any of those empty holes in my old Lincoln and Jefferson books. It doesn't matter how pretty it is, it only matters that it is. Finding it was a challenge in itself. There are always pristine examples for sale, but they cost far more than the melt price paid for a true rarity.

Another part of my interest stems from being an executor and selling my dad's lifetime accumulation of mint products. The only ones with any substantial value were gold. I gained an appreciation of the fact that gold coins were an asset. Not necessarily a good investment, but something of value rather than just rarity.

Finally, it's regionality. I grew up with the San Francisco mint close by. It has always had the aura of gold rush, and everything that goes with it.