New To Collecting - Silver Eagle Help Needed

I applaud you for doing as I have done, GET THE KIDS started in a very rewarding hobby. It teaches them to save, regardless of what they choose to collect, they will learn some lessons on investing over a period of time and discover a worth in coins and currency that many people just don't understand and have an insight into the precious metals market. My little guy (4 1/2 years old) has a collection that was started when he was but a few months old that is now worth thousands. Some of our relatives give him money every holiday and the bank was not paying him squat to keep it in savings. When the savings reaches a significant balance we, my wife and I, withdrawal part of it to buy gold or silver and ALL of it has done well compared to the rates the bank is willing to pay him for using his money. And, I have a very young man who already has a knowledge of gold and silver! Believe me he can tell the difference and, like his father, he is very partial to anything with a buffalo on it!!! Smart boy!

only thing about the grading is for resale, if you are planning on keeping these sets and not selling them anytime soon then by all means keep them original, if you may sell them down the road, you will get alot more for a PD-70 graded by PCGS than you ever would selling it like it came from the mint. If you dont beleive me just look on ebay and see what PF-70 PCGS AGE's are selling for, then look at what they are selling for in the iriginal holders with coa and box (I am talking about ones with bids not the BIN sales) here is an example http://cgi.ebay.com/2006-PCGS-PR70-...le_W0QQitemZ260027422631QQihZ016QQcategoryZ39483QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem This coin sold for 885.00 at the mints website, it is over double that just because it graded PR-70 from PCGS (which most will be a PR-69 or PR-70)

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How the heck can you search (pricing info) on auctions that have already ended?

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Try this: http://pages.ebay.com/help/find/que...istings.html

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Originally posted by Guido

Wow, this post is just like the one I was going to post. I checked on the advanced search like suggested which gives me a better idea of what the coins have sold for on ebay, but where else can I get current prices for ASE and AGE coins?

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There are a lot of price guides out there but don't take any of them as gospel. Ebays completed listings is probably as good a guide as anything. Just look around, ebay, dealers, etc., and try to get an idea of what things are going for and use your common sense when you decide to break down and buy and you should do okay.

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From a value or price standpoint, what is the difference between ms70 and pf70. I know one is uncirculated and the other is a proof, but does a collector or investor prefer one over the other?

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Depends on the collector or investor. People have different ideas on what is going to go up in value and by how much. I think generally the collectors go more for what they take a liking to and hang onto it, the investors are a different breed although many collectors have a little bit of investor in them to one extent or another.

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If you want to keep these coins for many years, which ones will be worth more over time?

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Good luck with that one. There are all kinds of people with ideas about that but unless they have a crystal ball they can't really know. It's generally accepted that if you buy key dates and get the best quality you can afford you'll do well. I'm guessing that holds true for these as well.

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Also, if you buy these coins that have been graded by NGC or PCGS, are they more valuable than the coins with the original box and COA? And if so, why?

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Because these are two respected independent third party graders and when they assign a grade to a coin then that grade will probably hold up. People like these higher graded coins and although they probably couldn't tell the difference they trust that these companies graded them accordingly so when they go to buy a set of top quality coins they can be comfortable that the coins are actually top quality. The ungraded coin could have defects of some sort that hold back the price so even though it's pretty enough most folks won't pay the premiums that the graded coins go for.

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Are the Ultra Cameo PF69 or 70 coins really worth the extra money? Since I'm new to this, I want to buy the nicest sets I can, but I also don't want to overpay as well. It seems that there is quite a price increase from 69 to 70 and I haven't seen any 68's or below. Maybe because they don't grade out that low as proofs or uncirculated?

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Usually it doesn't pay to have something like an ASE graded unless it comes out as a 69 or 70. After you figure in the grading fees and such a PF68 won't bring a profit so nobody bothers. I guess there are people who buy large bunches of these things and then send them off to be graded. The grading companies will allow them to designate a minimum grade, say PF69, and anything that doesn't measure up won't be graded. I'd like to have that kind of money. heheheh

The increase in price from 69 to 70 is pretty easy to figure out. A PF70 is supposedly a perfect coin and there aren't going to be nearly as many of them. You can go to NGCs site and see a how many they have graded out in each category if you're curious.

As for whether the high graded coins are worth the money, it is up to the individual. Personally, I don't think they are but a lot of people want those high grades and are willing to pay for them and I'm awfully cheap so you'd have to take that into consideration. I'm probably just as happy with my ungraded uncirculated set as anyone is with their NGC PF70 ultra cameo set. You just have to decide what trips your trigger and go with that.If you're just starting out though you might want to hang onto your money for a while and just sit back and read up on what you're interested in before you go spending big bucks on PF70 coins and such. There are some bad deals to be had and more than a few people willing to take advantage of a newbie. If you were to ask around here you'll find several who have a story to tell about getting hosed.

TSOTL, Thanks for all the great advice and ideas. That gives me a lot to think about and guidelines to work with. I haven't seen a PF69 and PF70 next to each other, but look forward to it. I did purchase a PF70 ASE Ultra Cameo on ebay (it came today!) and held it up next to a MS69 First Strike and regular ASE MS69 that I have, and I must say that the UC is an unbelievably beautiful coin. Now I see the difference between proof and uncirculated. In my book, a proof is much more desireable to me than uncirculated (at least in ASE's) because of this.

Also, I know ebay is a great place to overpay and get hosed. I've seen so many differences in prices for the same item that it amazes me what some people will pay. I think the term "auction fever" applies to ebay a lot. Patience is very important, as well as knowing what your maximum price is.

I have been watching the PF70 NGC certified 2005 Gold AE and see they are going for around $1,500 to $1,800, and then I see a one ounce $50 GSE PF70 with 59 bids that is at $1,875! That seems like a fishy deal to me. I can't imagine someone would overpay that much and think they are looking for some uneducated person to bid over that to get that coin. It's sad that you have so much of that on ebay. It takes a lot of study and, as I said before, patience to get what you want at a price your willing to pay.

Sorry for rambling. This stuff is pretty exciting to me.

I haven't gone to any dealers yet. I don't know of any in my area, so that will be something I will look into when I have more time. I think ebay has made it simpler for more people to get into collecting (or buying) coins because of the convenience. I think going to a dealer or a coin show is good, though, since you can look at lots of different coins and get opinions on different things and ask lots of questions. But finding an honest and ethical dealer takes time, just like on ebay.