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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,566 |
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Valued Member
United States
364 Posts |
Is it realistic to ever expect to get decent-grade, common-date half eagles near melt? Was considering a small gold purchase but wasn't sure to go straight bullion, or classic coins like half eagles. Thanks!
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
It is realistic, but indians are tougher than the libs. They are expensive certified, and you run the risk of purchasing a fake if raw. I've been putting a roll of half eagles together which includes some indians, and have had pretty good success with NGC AU details (cleaned) examples on ebay for close to melt(5-8% over). Problem free certified AUs are more like 20-30% over. Libs are a lot easier, and you can get a nice problem free AU for less than 10% over. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
931 Posts |
Up until a few months ago you could land some nice Indian Half Eagles for around $400 raw unslabbed. I got one raw for $405 on ebay about three months ago and I had to snipe it. Since then I have tried but most go for around $450 plus. Most of them on ebay have a start bid around $500 if they're graded and $450 raw depending on rarity. I gave up trying to snipe them because most of them are pre-bid to around $500. The one that I grabbed for $405 graded out to MS61 at NGC and lists for $800 in their price guide so I really stole that one. All in all it seems like the cheap ones dried up around three months ago. I gave up trying to get them near melt and bought a few one ounce Buffaloes since the Indians went up in both price and demand. |
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Valued Member
 United States
364 Posts |
Some have mentioned being afraid of slabbed indians and other gold due to the fake slabbing. Do you think is a realistic concern at this point?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
931 Posts |
If they can get away with it they will probably try it. If you see an NGC coin you are interested in get the number of the coin to me and I can look it up on the NGC Registry. I'm not sure how far back the Registry goes but probably most of the Half Eagles on ebay can be looked up. Also have a few of the people around here look over the listing for you. I don't know much about PCGS but I suppose some PCGS members here could look those up for you. I've been looking at some raw listings on ebay and I haven't seen anything that scares me currently. |
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Valued Member
United States
312 Posts |
Even if people do fake slabs, it's more effort to fake both a slab and a coin than just the coin itself... So I'd still say slabs are safer, just not a 100% guarantee.
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
Here is one I recently bought raw recently for well under $381. It may have helped some that the seller called it a "quarter eagle" instead of a "half eagle". He also got the mint wrong as it is an 11-s. I received it today and it is a nice circ example that I believe is authentic. I'm willing to gamble occassionally on authenticity if it's cheap enough as fakes are usually made of 90% gold in the correct weight. However, many of the fakes are made with transfer dies, and almost impossible to determine unless you're an expert so there is always a risk buying raw. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...TRK:MEWNX:ITJunior..that was a great find on that NGC MS-61 for $405! |
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Valued Member
United States
364 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
931 Posts |
Johnny, that Half Eagle that you bought looks very genuine. The stars are lined up and pointed in the right directions and the wing feathers all have a nice curve to them. Also the wear is very typical. I have an 11 S that is in exactly the same condition and the wear patterns look right on line. Good buy I think. Yeah, that MS61 was a good buy. When I sent it off to NGC I was thinking AU58 so it was a nice bump up.
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Valued Member
United States
92 Posts |
Once in a blue moon maybe. Taking a flyer on an auction with lousy photography may yield a good result once in a while but more likely than not will yield only disappointment. I prefer to pay up a little git and get a well imaged coin that I'm not trying to rip.
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Pillar of the Community
1283 Posts |
I really like this size for collecting. I have 3 now after stealing Johnny's idea of trying build a full roll. I like the Indians more then the Liberties but the premium is higher. Cheapest of the 3 was $390 at my local coin shop most expensive I bought was $450 at auction.
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
Quote:
Once in a blue moon maybe. Taking a flyer on an auction with lousy photography may yield a good result once in a while but more likely than not will yield only disappointment. I prefer to pay up a little git and get a well imaged coin that I'm not trying to rip.  Quote:
I really like this size for collecting. I have 3 now after stealing Johnny's idea of trying build a full roll. I like the Indians more then the Liberties but the premium is higher. Cheapest of the 3 was $390 at my local coin shop most expensive I bought was $450 at auction. Way to go throwbackkid!   Quote:
Johnny, that Half Eagle that you bought looks very genuine. The stars are lined up and pointed in the right directions and the wing feathers all have a nice curve to them. Also the wear is very typical. I have an 11 S that is in exactly the same condition and the wear patterns look right on line. Good buy I think. Yeah, that MS61 was a good buy. When I sent it off to NGC I was thinking AU58 so it was a nice bump up. Thanks Junior! I hope it is, but after reading the Bill Fivaz guide to Counterfeit Detection, it leaves me very cautious. The transfer die counterfeits are so exact that the only way to differentiate them from genuine ones is to spot very small tooling marks under a high power loupe. All of the other details are dead on. I agree though that circulated look bodes well for a genuine piece, especially a common date in which there would be little profit in counterfeiting with 90% gold. The fakes made from home made dies or casting are a lot easier to spot since the general details of the coin don't match, which makes the entire coin look "off". |
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
Quote:
I really like this size for collecting. I have 3 now after stealing Johnny's idea of trying build a full roll. I like the Indians more then the Liberties but the premium is higher. Cheapest of the 3 was $390 at my local coin shop most expensive I bought was $450 at auction. The indians are much neater to collect, and look awesome in a group of circs. If I went back to do it over, I would stick to the indians. |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,566 |
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Posted 06/30/2011 2:07 pm
