The 1952 Mickey Mantle of US Gold Coins?
mcgoo2
Posts: 4 ✭
Hey everyone, I've been collecting baseball cards for 20+ years and feel a little burned out by the recent craziness of the sports card market so I've joined this forum to learn and start a small, high quality collection of gold coins. So with that context, I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts, What's the 1952 Mickey Mantle of the gold coin world? So while not super rare, it's in extremely high demand and is almost universally seen as the iconic coin of the industry. Is there a consensus?
As a kid I remember paging through a coin value book and seeing the draped bust as the featured coin and assuming that this was the holy grail of the coin collecting community. Was little me right, is the answer to my question the 1795 draped bust?
Right now a pre-1800 draped bust gold coin is on the top of my list of coins to start my collection with (I'm also liking the SS Central America Liberty coins, the $5 Indian heads, and the modern Brittania gold) but I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of the coin collecting community.
Thank you in advance!
Comments
I believe the 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card is symbolic of his career arc, from little known rookie to star.
For coins, I believe desirability (other than rarity/value) is more about
1. historic interest (1793 chain cent, 1787 Fugio cent)
or
2. beauty (1907 high relief $20, 1836-38 Gobrecht $1)
In terms of gold, historic could be the 1848 CAL. "commemorative"?
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1848-2-50-cal/7749
Beauty could be the 1907 high relief $20,
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/category/st-gaudens-20-1907-1933/67
maybe the 1907 $10.
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/category/indian-10-1907-1933/65
Many collectors build a type set, which sounds roughly like your plan. This gets you a lot of different designs.
It might be wise to start with lower value coins, so that if you make some mistakes or decide to change direction, you don't lose as much.
Buying a "Red Book" with photos of the different types and values is a very good way to start.
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-United-States-Coins/dp/079484796X
Although you can also look these up online these days.
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts (great photos)
https://www.pcgs.com/prices (prices by grade)
Welcome to the forum.
Based on your parameters, the answer that comes to mind for me is the 1907 High Relief $20.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Agree with above posters. The 1907 HR Saint. Since it is a coin whose value comes from it's appearance (more than some others, anyways) be extra picky about it, and choose an eye appealing example that is accurately graded. While the coin market is mature and can be fairly generic, there are always those substandard pieces and superior pieces, even within identical grades. Having an experienced and honest guide can help you tremendously in that end of the pool.
Aercus Numismatics - Certified coins for sale
@mcgoo2... Welcome aboard. Starting with gold coins is quite ambitious, and can get a tad expensive. That being said, the HR Saint is a magnificent coin... and $5 Indians are super nice as well. Good luck and let us know how things progress. Cheers, RickO
Another vote for the 1907 $20 High Relief.
Welcome! I recommend going to Dou Winter's site since your interested in gold and looking at his articles. He has many that discuss the most iconic, ideas for collections, etc
I agree with the 1907 High Relief $20. It is relatively common but very popular and always in demand. You can and should be picky when buying one as all it takes is money.
Perhaps it is a good time to cash out on your sports cards while the market is hot.
I vote for any mint state 20 Saint in a black NGC slab or a PCGS Regency slab.
While that would be highly desirable to some collectors, it’s way off (pun intended) base in addressing the OP’s question:
“ What's the 1952 Mickey Mantle of the gold coin world? So while not super rare, it's in extremely high demand and is almost universally seen as the iconic coin of the industry. Is there a consensus?”
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I'm not able to say which coin would be comparable to the 1952 card but the coin that floats my boat is a 19th century $20 cameo proof $20 lib. I've looked at them for 40+ years and they are mesmerizing. YMMV
Ok, I agree.
By the way, I love your collecting passion.👍
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
For the modern coin collectors, I'd suggest the 2009 (MMIX) Ultra High Relief Saint.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Wow, the High Relief wasn't even on my radar! I saw an article about it and just disregarded it as an option since the low relief is the only gold coin I already own. I had no idea the high relief is so influential. Thank you everyone, this is a great community!
I'm eyeballing this coin right now to kick off the collection, just hoping it comes down in price a bit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1857-S-GOLD-20-DOUBLE-EAGLE-SS-CENTRAL-AMERICA-VARIETY-20B-PCGS-MINT-STATE-64-/224445245031?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286
I think I'd have to sell a kidney to afford that but you're right, I just googled it and that's a beautiful coin.
You should be able to get a PCGS 64 example for under $9000. They aren’t especially rare, so there should be numerous options, later, if not sooner.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Based on those sold on Heritage it seemed like the price was a few thousand dollars high. I'm in no rush, I'll just set up some alerts and wait until more pop up for auction.
@mcgoo2 if you are interested in SSCA gold I highly recommend reading Ship of Gold. It is a fascinating story and certainly increased my appreciation of the SSCA coins.
The Mickey Mantle of gold coins is not available. Neither of them are.....
In date order
1849 $20
1907-MCMVII $20 J-1776
18th Century gold? Best bet? You can get a 1799 $10 in MS63CAC for under $100K.
I'm not a card collector but I just checked the PSA pop report on a 1952 Mickey Mantle. Looks like PSA has graded 1756 examples. So definitely not a rare card but clearly an iconic one and a high value one due to demand. I would say that aligns very well with a 1907 High Relief. Multiple examples available at any given time but it will run you $20-40k for an average one.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album