An Ultra-Rarity
MsMorrisine
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Professional Coin Grading Service Grades the Only Legally Obtainable 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, to be Sold by Sotheby’s in June 2021
PCGS was selected by Sotheby’s in New York to officially certify and grade the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, a gold coin once owned by King Farouk of Egypt that will soon be offered for sale. PCGS has graded the gold coin MS65 and its current owner, shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, is offering it along with a handful of other exceptional rarities at a Sotheby’s auction to be held in New York on June 8, 2021.
it is now in the ultra-rarities registry set!
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Very Nice
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Great. Yet another hole in my set. A little surprised they didn't reserve a more sexy serial number for it.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
It looks like a matte proof from that pic.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Other than the strike, you're right.
peacockcoins
Looks like they just tossed a grade at it to me. There's some major hits on Liberty's leg along with what looks like substantial rub on the knee.
Maybe that serial will be the price with BP, and then all of a sudden it'll look genius.
Awesome!
Here's the link:
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/42095232
Love that the provenance is "Farouk-Weitzman" which is how I've been referring to this.
I do think it should not grade 65 but honestly the grade is entirely superfluous right now.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
I know it's a nice coin ... but IMO it should be destroyed.
It's funny how the more cemented I get in a box of 20 style and hunting for an aesthetic that speaks to me, the further away from series collections I get. They really start to mean very little.
I LOVE Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The high relief $20 and the $10 are both amazing.
But special because it's rare? Meh. Get a 1930, 1931, or 1932 and save yourself a few million dollars. Get all three.
I'd rather have have the 1907 UHR lettered or unlettered. And especially the ASG-edge. By like, orders of magnitude. Now you're talking importance, provenance, scarcity.
Saint-Gaudens died in 1907. Teddy Roosevelt in 1919. What would they have thought about the 1933? Which would they have preferred?
--Severian the Lame
I have read somewhere that this coin was seized by the U.S. Treasury in 2001 before it was monetized. After the seizure, it was placed in the U.S. Treasury vault at the NYC World Trade Center, then moved to Fort Knox about 2 months before the World Trade Center was destroyed. Historically, this coin is a bit like “frogger” making it across a busy interstate without getting destroyed. Fascinating history….
There a few on display at the Smithsonian. On Paper unique isn’t the same as unique I’ll never know the arbitrary nature how the mint declares some coins monetized and other illicit.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Do you own any million dollar plus coins?
I don't know if you do, but I think the thinking of people who buy 1-10 million coins is a bit different than those that don't.
Some like TDN have commented that he's not in the running for this but he buys other coins, not the ones mention here.
None of this even matters unless it cacs. Otherwise just some zillionares dreck. I wouldn't even want it. Thanks!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
So you're saying you would want it if it CACs?
I would not buy the coin.... could not buy the coin... but would be most grateful if someone were to give it to me for my birthday.... Coming up soon...
Cheers, RickO
I hope the coin biz gets some good pub on the results.
YouTube will have everyone in the country looking at their change to find another one and become an instant millionaire.
Boring!
Not sure about the Farouk specimen as a bday gift---would you be open to one of the other ones? :smile
@Gazes ..... Well.... OK.... I can live with that... Let me know when it ships so I can track it.
Cheers, RickO
Will the 1933 coin go to CAC?
I hope the buyer is a collector, and has the intention of having or building the only complete set of Saints.
It should stay within the hobby and not just become just another billionaire's bauble.
What difference would it make what CAC thinks of the coin? Anyone who wants a 1933 Saint that’s legal to own, has only one choice. And that’s regardless of who grades it, what the grade is and whether it has a CAC sticker.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I hear JA is strict on Saints, His stamp of approval helps.
How would it help in this particular case? Again, if someone wants to own a 1933 Saint legally, this is the only option.
What if JA thinks it’s a 64? Should the winning bidder see if PCGS will re-grade it as a 64 or if NGC will grade it 64, in the hopes that CAC will sticker it? How would that matter?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Sure, but at least JA can say that he put his stamp of approval on the only known 1933 DE or can say that he failed to put his stamp of approval on the only known 1933 DE. Handling a coin such as this is a big deal.
That sounds like a matter of ego and he’s a humble man. He’s far beyond needing to be able to say something like that.
And you started off by asking “Will the 1933 coin go to CAC?”. I still haven’t seen a good reason why a new owner might care.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
You do know that this coin is not slabbed right? It's certified but PCGS did not encapsulate it.
Since there's no slab, if it was stickered, it'd need to look something like this
I do know that. That picture is taking coin doctoring to a unique level!
From the original auction:
Call me a doubting Thomas, but where does it say that the U.S. Treasury Department will never, ever monetize another one? The language is qualified with the word “intends” which is not absolute. At the time the Langboard coins were not known and were supposedly hidden away and unknown even to his descendants. Unless there is some other documentation out there or I’m misreading something, there is nothing preventing the government from monetizing the Langboard coins and auctioning them off. There is a material change of circumstances unknown to the Treasury Department at the time those statements were made.
I agree with you but there are some diehard CAC groupies that I could see thumbing their noses at it because they are “CAC only.”
The only way another coin will be available to own is if another authorization happens, like the Farouk export license and NASA moon dust bag auction:
NASA returns priceless bag of moon dust to Chicago-area woman after lawsuit
I can’t, not if they have any serious thoughts about acquiring a 1933 Saint.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I don't think anyone seriously considering this coin will not bid due to lack of CAC.
Of course, the winner may submit it for CAC after winning, but I don't think it will prevent anyone from bidding.
All indications are, and there is no reason to believe otherwise that the ruling to authorize only this coin for private ownership will stand.
Whether it is precedent or course of conduct or whatever, the Government will defend the ruling. What is out there that hasn't already been factually revealed to make them reconsider?
I am as pro CAC as they come especially with gold coins---and I can say uncategorically that whether this coin had a sticker or not is completely irrelevant to me.
That’s truly refreshing. What say you @Perfection?
Of course the government will seize the other coins, but there is nothing stopping the Treasury Department from monetizing the coins later and flipping them for a profit. The only hindrance would be a contract suit by Sweitzman, but it doesn’t appear that there was an ironclad provision protecting him, only vague expressions of intention. As the old saying goes, the road to hades is paved with good intentions.
Ah, but what if all 12 were on the market? What then?
Yes, that would make a difference. I have many coins with a surving population of 10-25 and CAC is important to me. If there was a coin I needed with a population of less than 5 not as much. However, at this time and for the foreseeable future the 1933 DE is a population of 1 and CAC would not be a factor for me. If I was worried about the other coins coming onto the market (which I would not be) it really isnt a CAC issue but a pricing issue.
If all 12 hit the market at once as a result of being made legal to own, I imagine grades and stickers would take a back seat to a rather legendary spectacle of intense scrutiny by buyers, agents, and those of us in the cheap seats. Of course, knowing that, the grading company involved would do the same, making sure there weren't any head-scratchers or coins perceived as low-end in the bunch.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
I don’t think there would be too many different grades distributed among the additional examples. As a result, it would be nearly inevitable that some of the coins would be considered “low end”.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Too late. The others would have to be inflated to match this one unless it is acknowledged to be over graded.
65? I don't know anything about the series. Whatever.
I think people will have more on their mind with the fall of the US government
There are always other methods. For instance, what if a coin collector were elected President and he was determined to distribute the others?
I took issue with the remark that “some, like me, say they are legal to own.” Clearly they’re not, even if it’s theoretically possible that they could be, sometime in the future. And I hope that turns out to be the case.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I haven’t run across anyone that seems as determined as you. Have you thought of running? If everything else looks good, I’ll vote for you
If President, you privatize the NNC?