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Wanna buy an 1854-S half eagle?

KollectorKingKollectorKing Posts: 4,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited June 27, 2018 3:56PM in U.S. Coin Forum
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    JBKJBK Posts: 14,832 ✭✭✭✭✭

    No thanks. I already have one. ;)

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    GluggoGluggo Posts: 3,566 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @JBK said:
    No thanks. I already have one. ;)

    Dang I am impressed

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm sure this will find its way into the Hansen collection.

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    Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @cameonut2011 said:
    I'm sure this will find its way into the Hansen collection.

    Someone is going to figure that out and the price is going to be run up to crazy money. Easy for me to say but Mr. Hansen should drop out quickly and let the folks have it at crazy money (possibly in order to sell it to him). Then he should wait a few years until the winner begs him to take it off their hands at a big discount!

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    Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Amazing !!! :)

    Timbuk3
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    tradedollarnuttradedollarnut Posts: 20,148 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Because that’s how you build a great collection. Sometimes...you gotta pay the ransom. Opportunity may be worth more than the price

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    Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @tradedollarnut said:
    Because that’s how you build a great collection. Sometimes...you gotta pay the ransom. Opportunity may be worth more than the price

    I want to ask if Mr. Hansen is in your "league" and who would win the coin if the two of you were the last bidders but sometimes I act like a mature man with "class" so I won't ask that question. B)

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    WalkerfanWalkerfan Posts: 8,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I find this very interesting and the bidding should be exciting and fierce! I will be spectating for sure.

    “I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~

    My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)

    https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/

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    tradedollarnuttradedollarnut Posts: 20,148 ✭✭✭✭✭

    He would - if he cared enough

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    topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I hope it doesn't use up all the money at the WFOM auction.

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @tradedollarnut said:
    I predict a record price realized for the issue

    In NGC plastic and without a CAC sticker? >:)

    Then again, since the last one appeared for sale in 1982, you may be on to something. :D

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    rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    TDN has it right.... but will be interesting to watch. Cheers, RickO

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    topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think that just surpassed everything else in my "neato" file.

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    CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,449 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

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    kenriles012kenriles012 Posts: 170 ✭✭

    They got a neat insert on the holder.

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    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,598 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Crypto said:
    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

    You don't know that. You can believe that, and bid or not bid accordingly, but you do not know that.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
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    Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @kenriles012 said:
    They got a neat insert on the holder.

    Stupid insert. The grading service blew it. They needed to put a rainbow into a pot of gold1 NOT! Probably done to give the rookie collector/owner a little thrill buying into his happiness for the short time he held the slab. The new owner should get that thing crossed into a holder with a normal label ASAP. B)

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    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,598 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @FadeToBlack said:

    @CaptHenway said:

    @Crypto said:
    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

    You don't know that. You can believe that, and bid or not bid accordingly, but you do not know that.

    It's just a huge risk to take. An unnecessary one... I could see it impacting the price a bit.

    So bid accordingly.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
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    KkathylKkathyl Posts: 3,762 ✭✭✭✭✭

    :o

    Best place to buy !
    Bronze Associate member

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Surely there must be photos of the DuPont coin even if not publicly published. If so, the family should come forward.

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    WalkerfanWalkerfan Posts: 8,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like the holder and I trust NGC's judgment.

    “I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~

    My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)

    https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/

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    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,598 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @cameonut2011 said:
    Surely there must be photos of the DuPont coin even if not publicly published. If so, the family should come forward.

    In what do you base that “surely?”

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CaptHenway said:

    @cameonut2011 said:
    Surely there must be photos of the DuPont coin even if not publicly published. If so, the family should come forward.

    In what do you base that “surely?”

    Logically speaking, who has a collection of that caliber that doesn't inventory and image them? Even back before digital cameras, the internet, etc., that sounds incredibly stupid. And without proof, even if this was the DuPont coin, the family is SOL.

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    CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,598 ✭✭✭✭✭

    As I said in another thread about this coin, I worked with the DuPont family in examining certain other rarities with a view towards possible recovery of stolen pieces. They had no pictures of those coins, some of them rarer than the 1854-S $5.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CaptHenway said:
    As I said in another thread about this coin, I worked with the DuPont family in examining certain other rarities with a view towards possible recovery of stolen pieces. They had no pictures of those coins, some of them rarer than the 1854-S $5.

    I was not aware of that post. Sorry.

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    abcde12345abcde12345 Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The coin and the comments in this thread confuse me.

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    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 32,141 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Why are you folks making stuff up? The coin was compared to photographs of the Dupont coin and determined to NOT be the Dupont coin.

    https://coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2018/04/1854-s-half-eagle-discovery-of-a-lifetime.all.html

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    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 32,141 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Crypto said:
    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

    It is NOT the DuPont coin. NGC compared it to photos of the DuPont coin.

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    7Jaguars7Jaguars Posts: 7,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Because we hopefully are critical thinkers and ask questions as we should. I really don't think what has been said is "making stuff up". We naturally wonder what the basis for their (ATS') opinion is; that should be expected and we should not of necessity eat what is spoon-fed to us.
    If indeed their photographs of the DuPont coin are those that we have seen then many of us rightfully question whether the present coin is conclusively not the same one.

    Love that Milled British (1830-1960)
    Well, just Love coins, period.
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    CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,449 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @7Jaguars said:
    Because we hopefully are critical thinkers and ask questions as we should. I really don't think what has been said is "making stuff up". We naturally wonder what the basis for their (ATS') opinion is; that should be expected and we should not of necessity eat what is spoon-fed to us.
    If indeed their photographs of the DuPont coin are those that we have seen then many of us rightfully question whether the present coin is conclusively not the same one.

    Agreed that and why the secrecy of it’s origin? Circumstantial sure but people have been hung for less.

    One of a few stolen, one shows up years later looking processed with no back story. Only to be “certified” by the clear 2nd rate player in the field who soaks in the publicity. To be immediately auctioned before too much looking into can go down by the public.

    It is how I would sell the DuPont coin, Numismatic opinions are a dime a dozen and often bought...Breen done before

    Lucky for the auction house that the opportunity cost should placate any logicial objections. People like trophies

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's nice to see that the conspiracy theorists are out in full force.

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 29, 2018 6:08PM

    From Coin World:

    In response to questions from Coin World, NGC President Rick Montgomery said April 18 that a comparison of diagnostics visible in photographs of the DuPont coin, which was sold by Stack’s in 1962 as part of the Samuel W. Wolfson Collection, against those of the newly certified coin, have convinced NGC officials that the newly certified piece is not the stolen and missing DuPont coin. NGC also compared the new coin to images of the Smithsonian and Pogue coins in checking diagnostics. The Smithsonian provided a photograph of its coin to NGC to assist with authentication of the coin owned by the New England man, according to Salzberg....

    The coin, whose condition was described as Extremely Fine, realized $16,500 in the 1962 sale by Stack’s. It is the DuPont coin whose whereabouts are unknown.
    Source: https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2018/04/1854-s-half-eagle-discovery-of-a-lifetime.all.html

    An EF in 1962 is probably a high grade AU by today's standards. I doubt a thief would destroy that much detail artificially (1) because of the huge hit in value and (2) the amount of alteration would be significant and hard to cover up.

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Is there anyone around with a 1962 Stack's auction catalog that can help us out?

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    CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,449 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Crypto said:
    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

    It is NOT the DuPont coin. NGC compared it to photos of the DuPont coin.

    What photos? They should write a point by point Analysis paper with all artifacts imbedded and sign their names to it for all to see.

    Anything less is basically the number 2 grading company making a “just trust me” publicity grab with no real skin in the game or risk of peer review.

    While they legit coin guys sure, but they are really just guessing too. They are just trying to get mileage out of their guess without the liability of really going on the record.

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Crypto said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Crypto said:
    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

    It is NOT the DuPont coin. NGC compared it to photos of the DuPont coin.

    What photos? They should write a point by point Analysis paper with all artifacts imbedded and sign their names to it for all to see.

    Anything less is basically the number 2 grading company making a “just trust me” publicity grab with no real skin in the game or risk of peer review.

    While they legit coin guys sure, but they are really just guessing too. They are just trying to get mileage out of their guess without the liability of really going on the record.

    Why is the onus on the grading service? It isn't their job or problem. They grade coins and are not forensic numismatists.

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    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 32,141 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Crypto said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Crypto said:
    That just has to be the DuPont coin, I wonder what type of effect the lack of provenance will have on the outcome of the auction. Is no story a net neg when one could spend millions on basically stolen property? Or is there enough to know that it can’t be proven either way, would NGC be liable ?

    It is NOT the DuPont coin. NGC compared it to photos of the DuPont coin.

    What photos? They should write a point by point Analysis paper with all artifacts imbedded and sign their names to it for all to see.

    Anything less is basically the number 2 grading company making a “just trust me” publicity grab with no real skin in the game or risk of peer review.

    While they legit coin guys sure, but they are really just guessing too. They are just trying to get mileage out of their guess without the liability of really going on the record.

    That's a great idea. Give the owner of the actual stolen coin a point-by-point analysis of the things to alter on the coin.

    The #2 grading company would not risk there reputation by erroneously certifying the coin that way. Whoever has the rights to the stolen coin (Duponts or insurance company), would certainly attempt to prove that it WAS the same coin which would not only make NGC potentially liable, but also sully their relationship.

    So, yes, I choose to believe NGC who looked at photos and not a bunch of armchair warriors who have neither seen the coin or the photos in person and are just doubting for the sake of doubting. There is not one scintilla of evidence refuting the NGC version.

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    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 32,141 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @cameonut2011 said:

    @Crypto said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Crypto said:

    Why is the onus on the grading service? It isn't their job or problem. They grade coins and are not forensic numismatists.

    More to the point, what evidence is there refuting NGC's expert opinion?

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    tradedollarnuttradedollarnut Posts: 20,148 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @cameonut2011 said:

    @Crypto said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Crypto said:

    Why is the onus on the grading service? It isn't their job or problem. They grade coins and are not forensic numismatists.

    More to the point, what evidence is there refuting NGC's expert opinion?

    NGC invites this second guessing by not publishing the steps they took to ensure it’s not the same coin.

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    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 32,141 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @tradedollarnut said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @cameonut2011 said:

    @Crypto said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Crypto said:

    More to the point, what evidence is there refuting NGC's expert opinion?

    NGC invites this second guessing by not publishing the steps they took to ensure it’s not the same coin.

    Ludicrous.

    Riddle me this, Batman: What possible motive would NGC have?

    If they are lying, they are going to get caught. If it's just an error, they are going to get caught. They are, therefore, either fools or incompetent. Either way, they are risking their entire reputation on one coin.

    There is NO MOTIVE for them to lie.
    You have not one iota of evidence that it is the Dupont coin.
    Your speculation is mere fiction based on air.

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    tradedollarnuttradedollarnut Posts: 20,148 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’m not speculating anything. I just don’t trust any TPG opinion without doing my own evaluation- be it an opinion of grade, of method of manufacture or of authenticity. I’ve seen too much crap in this industry to blindly follow anyone - show me your method of proving authenticity so I can concur or be viewed with a skeptical eye.

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    7Jaguars7Jaguars Posts: 7,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Most are NOT accusing them of lying (and who knows, they might be) and NOT conspiracy. They simply have not presented the case as TDN says. I, for one, would not pretend to know NGC's motives - if any - and am concentrating on the coin itself. There have in fact been pictures and comparisons on the other post that do certainly seem to pose serious questions about whether this coin is or is not the DuPont coin.

    So, this and not conspiracy or accusation is the focus. If that be ludicrous, then perhaps logic ought to be thrown out?

    Love that Milled British (1830-1960)
    Well, just Love coins, period.
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    jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 32,141 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 30, 2018 4:48AM

    Given that there are over 200 missing examples of this coin, assuming that it has to be the Dupont coin unless proven otherwise is not logical. NGC did its due diligence. I see no reason to doubt them. They have far more to lose and little to gain from failing to get it right.

    The coin in the Stack's catalog is much higher grade than the new one. But, of course, they could have worn it down, and dirtied it up. And so your "proof" that the coin is the same ends up being that it looks nothing like the Dupont coin but that a coin doctor could make the Dupont coin look nothing like the Dupont coin which is the craziest bit of "logic" ever.

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    CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,449 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 30, 2018 7:44AM

    @CaptHenway said:

    @jmlanzaf said:
    Given that there are over 200 missing examples of this coin, assuming that it has to be the Dupont coin unless proven otherwise is not logical. NGC did its due diligence. I see no reason to doubt them. They have far more to lose and little to gain from failing to get it right.

    The coin in the Stack's catalog is much higher grade than the new one. But, of course, they could have worn it down, and dirtied it up. And so your "proof" that the coin is the same ends up being that it looks nothing like the Dupont coin but that a coin doctor could make the Dupont coin look nothing like the Dupont coin which is the craziest bit of "logic" ever.

    Excellent point about the other 200+ missing pieces, but I fear that logic does not apply any more. As with the Saddle Ridge Hoard, some people cannot be happy over some stranger's good fortune, but must lash out in anger because they themselves did not find the treasure.

    Lame ;) henway, asking for intellectual riggor and method isn’t the same as poo pooing in someone’s fortune. Some people simply don’t default to faith when it comes to magic or luck. Wanting to believe shouldn’t be the trigger for suspending process. Say what you want but a classic rarity was famously stolen and one shows up, processed years later shrouded in secrecy being rushed to market. I simply think less of the type people who don’t question that and apply extra questions. To me it is guilty until proven otherwise even if legally there simply isn’t enough evidence. My fear would be like 1854s 5$, sometimes evidence pops up down the road unexpectedly. It would suck to have a multimillion dollar piece of stolen goods. How much would that NGC opinion be worth then? Would it even be admitted into court? Why wouldn’t they publish their opinion? To limit liability would be my guess. How sure can you be if you hedge your bet? Boisterous Is not the same as sure (trust me on that last part). Also in the world of legal experts, rank and status matter! (All coin nerds matter)

    200 others missing is a straw argument

    Someone is going to make a fortune on the coin that part isn’t up to debate. Yayyy seller, ugh bandwagon coin guys claiming to be a student to the hobby but acting like fan boys.

    You see no reason to doubt them, I Literally see no evidence to trust them. All they did was say looks good to us. I actually trust their opinions and I am just curious about the rigor they put behind it. Did they use100 points of comparison with pictures and people who knew the original coin or did they just point to one blurry inconsistency and say “wait you’ll put this in an NGC holder?”. They should go on the record IMO

    Find of a lifetime deserves data and history not just murky marketing

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    CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,449 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @cameonut2011 said:
    From Coin World:

    In response to questions from Coin World, NGC President Rick Montgomery said April 18 that a comparison of diagnostics visible in photographs of the DuPont coin, which was sold by Stack’s in 1962 as part of the Samuel W. Wolfson Collection, against those of the newly certified coin, have convinced NGC officials that the newly certified piece is not the stolen and missing DuPont coin. NGC also compared the new coin to images of the Smithsonian and Pogue coins in checking diagnostics. The Smithsonian provided a photograph of its coin to NGC to assist with authentication of the coin owned by the New England man, according to Salzberg....

    The coin, whose condition was described as Extremely Fine, realized $16,500 in the 1962 sale by Stack’s. It is the DuPont coin whose whereabouts are unknown.
    Source: https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2018/04/1854-s-half-eagle-discovery-of-a-lifetime.all.html

    An EF in 1962 is probably a high grade AU by today's standards. I doubt a thief would destroy that much detail artificially (1) because of the huge hit in value and (2) the amount of alteration would be significant and hard to cover up.

    1-You’re not destroying value when you can’t sell it. If you have to alter it to sell it you alter it

    2- no it wouldn’t

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    CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,449 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:
    Given that there are over 200 missing examples of this coin, assuming that it has to be the Dupont coin unless proven otherwise is not logical. NGC did its due diligence. I see no reason to doubt them. They have far more to lose and little to gain from failing to get it right.

    The coin in the Stack's catalog is much higher grade than the new one. But, of course, they could have worn it down, and dirtied it up. And so your "proof" that the coin is the same ends up being that it looks nothing like the Dupont coin but that a coin doctor could make the Dupont coin look nothing like the Dupont coin which is the craziest bit of "logic" ever.

    I never said I had any proof and have no obligation to support my suspicions that it is. I have questions and a fishy story. NGC’s president said him and his staff were convinced that it wasn’t. Why not ask them for their proof?

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Nap - Thank you!

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