Gold coin grading question from a newbie, any help would be appreciated

JewVol

I'm a big sports card guy and have graded thousands of cards over the years, but have never graded coins. My grandfather left my mom some gold coins and I am not sure if these are worth getting graded...I know when I first started grading cards I drastically overrated the condition they were in and don't want to make the same mistake with these coins.

As far as the luster, they seem way less shiny than the ones in PCGS flips on Ebay but the details and surface (etchings, detail remaining) seem as good or better than some of the 63 and 64s I've compared them too. I also am worried about my grandfather having tried to clean them and watched some videos about how to tell and think they haven't been cleaned at all.

Please see the attached scans and let me know your thoughts on if grading them with the goal of selling immediately would be a positive expected value gamble or if I should just sell them raw.

Thanks in advance.

• Jonathan

Kliao

It can be hard to tell if a coin has been cleaned or not through scans but I can see that some are AU while some may be UNC.

MsMorrisine

scans of coins can make them look cleaned wen they are not.

I know it's a lot of work, but compiling a list of the coins by demoniation, date and mintmark would get things started.

if you can't get photos of each, scans of each would be better than a scan of them as a group.

be aware that people looking at scans will often scream "cleaned"

I'd gather up everything and post it to the us coin forum here: https://forums.collectors.com/categories/u-s-coin-forum

Oldhoopster

Having them graded will answer any questions of authenticity and may allow you to sell them faster for a higher price. Will you be able to recoup the grading costs?? It depends. It depends on the coin, it depends on the date, it depends on the condition, it depends on if it's original or if its cleaned or has other problems.

Since you appear to be knowledgeable about sports cards, take the same approach here. Would you be able to assess a dozen cards based on the detail in your pics? As @MsMorrisine has said, clear, individual pics help.

MFeld

If you care to send me a private message with your zip code, I’d be happy to see if I can locate a local dealer who could screen your coins for you to determine which ones might merit grading.

JewVol

@Oldhoopster said:
Having them graded will answer any questions of authenticity and may allow you to sell them faster for a higher price. Will you be able to recoup the grading costs?? It depends. It depends on the coin, it depends on the date, it depends on the condition, it depends on if it's original or if its cleaned or has other problems.

Since you appear to be knowledgeable about sports cards, take the same approach here. Would you be able to assess a dozen cards based on the detail in your pics? As @MsMorrisine has said, clear, individual pics help.

Very good post and you are right.

See attached pics. I just picked four at random of different types. I think I'm naming them correctly although certainly no expert.

1899 $20 Liberty Gold Double Eagle
1913 $10 Indian Gold Eagle
1907 $5 Liberty Head
1914 $2.50 Indian Head Gold

MFeld

Those pictures are a big improvement. A good number of the coins appear to be uncirculated (and probably worth the cost of grading). It’s possible that they’re all uncirculated, but some of them are harder to judge than others.

It would be better to shoot the pictures straight-on, so that the coins are not angled. That should allow for better viewing and assessment. Tomorrow, I’m going to see if I can locate a good dealer or two in your area and will message you.