1933 St. Gaudens Auction

DeepCoin · June 30, 2002 1:01PM

I have been looking to see how much the 1933 double eagle sold for. Does anyone know? Please post if you do.

Russ · June 30, 2002 1:09PM

It hasn't auctioned yet. It's next month. You're 30 days early.

Russ, NCNE

DeepCoin · June 30, 2002 1:14PM

Thanks Russ, I guess I just had brain fade... or I am anxious. File this under Oooops.

keithdagen · June 30, 2002 1:28PM

I'm afraid as to what it will bring. Be way too much for a questionable rarity.

saynotoACG · June 30, 2002 2:50PM

I predict it will go for half a million, which is one heck of a price

quarterjack · June 30, 2002 3:33PM

IMHO, i feel a half-a-mill is a little low, i think it will fetch 1 mill plus just for the bragging rights!
Although i can confidently state i won't be one of the bidders unless i happen to hit the lottery tomorrow!!!

Dave

saynotoACG · June 30, 2002 3:38PM

Good luck

oh another note, if the auction will be in a month, doesn't that
give you 2 weeks to win the lotto? I still would rather spend the million
on a nice house, car and a complete set of $20 double eagles

oreville · June 30, 2002 3:41PM

Nah.......at least $7 million. As high as $11 million. Bragging rights must be paid for. Not free.

quarterjack · June 30, 2002 3:53PM

Oreville, i agree if i had that kind of money to throw around i wouldn't have to work for a living anymore! That Saint is not for the average joe, even if they wanted to mortgage the farm i'ed be willing to bet they'ed still come up SHORT! Well now , dosen't that take the stress off of us? Just kidding, it would be a great honor to be the owner of a fomous coin as the Saint.

Dave

wallstreetman · June 30, 2002 4:51PM

The auction starts at $2.5 Mil, but I think buyers that would have paid $10 Mil a few months ago are now afraid that there are more to surface! It may not beat out the 1804 Dollar at $4.1 Mil. Lots of rumors are spreading of more coins! There were over 400,000 minted, Im sure a lot more than they realize got out of the Mint.

DeepCoin · June 30, 2002 9:43PM

It is my guess that a syndicate will buy this coin and then work on building it up and selling it at a significant profit. That is one nice thing about this forum, that ability to speculate even if you can't buy the coin.

nwcs · June 30, 2002 10:05PM

I think it will sell for $2.3 million and then be resold within a year or two for $3 million.

littlewicher · July 1, 2002 12:00AM

The auction starts at 2.5 million, it can't go for anything less.

DeepCoin · July 1, 2002 12:05AM

I am guessing it will go for about 500K to 1 MM over the 1804 price. It is the only unique coin legally minted. We shall see. I think there is a good possibility that a non coin collector could end up with it for a while.

flykite · July 1, 2002 1:02AM

Preliminary estimates are already over 5 million; there was some
talk of national TV for this auction. I predict at least 8 million,
but 20 million is more like it!

nwcs · July 1, 2002 1:20AM

It would be neat to see it go on TV. I didn't realize there was a floor to bidding. In that case, I change my estimate to $5.3 million and resold for $6-6.5 million within 18 months of auction.

saynotoACG · July 1, 2002 7:23AM

I still don't see what bragging rights this coin can bring. If a millionare wanted bragging rights
he should just buy the complete st. guardens set in ms64-69 and become first on the
registry set for this expensive set! I would not be supprised if no one bids at the 2.5
million minimum. If this is the case, will the gov't just keep the coin then?
Also I believe there are hundreds, if not thousands out there. A dozen got consficated
over the years, but then the rest of the owners wisened up and kept quiet!
I heard a few got dumped into oceans or buried in treasure chests, others are hiding
underground, in attics and secret compartments in basements and walls.

DeepCoin · July 1, 2002 7:26AM

I think the last post is a bit of rhetoric and posturing.

I believe there may be a couple of other 1933s lurking in the shadows, but they are like stolen art, never able to come out in the light of day or they will be confiscated.

saynotoACG · July 1, 2002 12:45PM

Try 500 and they can always be sold in foreign countries, albet for alot less, such as $20,000

Mark · July 1, 2002 1:40PM

Have any of you read the catalog prepared by Sotheby's and Stack's for this auction? It is a fascinating read--very well written and very persuasive that none of the 1933 double eagles were legally issued.

According to the catalog, the coins were presumably stolen by George McCann, the cashier of the mint, no earlier than 1934. He evidently sold them to Israel Switt and/or Edward Silver, who was Switt's partner and also his brother-in-law. Switt was a scrap gold dealer who had lost his license because he violated the Gold Reserve Act of 1934. Switt admitted to the FBI that he had sold 9 coins. Of these 9 coins, 8 were retrived and melted. The 9th was the Farouk coin. However, a dealer who purchased 5 of the coins from Switt reported that Switt once boasted that he had 25 coins and had sold only 14. And, Louis Eliasberg turned in a 1933 double eagle that was not one of the 9 Switt admitted selling. So, as saynotoacg suggests, there might well be other 1933 double eagles extent, though it does seem unlikely there would be anywhere near 500.

The story in the catalog is totally fascinating. If you haven't read it and can lay your hands on the catalog, it is worthwhile to do so.

Mark

saynotoACG · July 1, 2002 2:05PM

You know whats funny? When that 1933 sells, if it does by reaching the 2.5m
minimum bid, all the dealers who illegally own some 1933's will be laughting
and just waiting for it to be legal oneday!

Flash · July 1, 2002 2:16PM

If the rumors concerning how many coins Switt actually had in his possession have any merit, that means there could be as few as 16 more 1933 Saints hiding in somebody's collections. This Switt fellow doesn't seem like the type to have actually told the FBI the truth. My guess is that at the time he was questioned he still had the others in his possession and wasn't about to give them up. Perhaps Eliasburg's example was one of those others. If that is the case, then only 15 are still out there somewhere.

flykite · July 1, 2002 10:02PM

While there may be a handfull of them out there, they will never
see the light of day. Considering this coins' history and pedigree,
plus that export paperwork, this coin is a slam-dunk to clear the
2.5m opening instantly, and when the smoke clears, this will be
the worlds' most valuable coin! Remember the Jackie Kennedy auction?
All those catalog estimates were way-under, and I suspect there are
bidders out there who may be non-collectors with deep pockets driving
this into the stratosphere. At least 8m, possibly much more!

kieferscoins · July 1, 2002 11:53PM

ANA's letter

Cameron Kiefer

DeepCoin · July 2, 2002 2:00AM

I seriously doubt there are more than a couple of 1933s out there, if any. As has been noted elsewhere, if you took the coin out of the country and sold it in a country where the coin was legal, the owner could expect to get major dollars.

Circumstances change, collectors die and other things happen such that I believe if anyone has one of these, they would have surfaced prior to this and made a bunch of money. There are certainly not hundreds of them. Time will tell.

1933 St. Gaudens Auction

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