Story of the purchase and sale of a coin
Gazes
Posts: 2,315 ✭✭✭✭✭
I thought my purchase and eventual sale of a coin may be of interest to some. I always wanted $20 Proof gold coin. I saw a beautiful one on great collections a few years ago. It was an 1892 $20 PCGS PR 63 DCAM CAC. The picture looked great. I called Ian to get more information. CAC is tough on proof gold so that was also reassuring. Just one problem---this was at the time of the start of the pandemic and the economy was in free fall, The markets were going down. I thought to myself do you really want to make a sizeable investment in a coin when who knows what will be happening in a week, a month or a year. Well I guess others had the same concern because I got it for $45,000 (that includes the commission).
The coin was absolutely stunning. So beautiful and looked better than PR63. I admired it for several years in my collection and enjoyed owning it and studying it. Recently I decided to sell it. I knew I would not own it forever and have some other priorities at the moment. I put it up for auction in the last Legend auction. I was thrilled to see it was the center coin on the cover of the Auction book. The hammer price was $60,000 (with commission it was $70,500). The proceeds to me will be close to 40% gain of my initial purchase.
A bit sad to let it go but really enjoyed owning it for several years and it brought me enjoyment. Also, happy that something that brought me happiness also brought me a nice return on my initial purchase price. Warren Buffet said something like "be greedy when others are fearful". Easier said than done. I can remember really being unsure about buying that coin due to the economy but I was rewarded with the ownership of a beautiful coin for a few years and then a nice profit to boot.
Comments
Congrats on following Warren Buffett's old advice. The specific phrase is "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." Seems to have paid off for you!
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Great coin but needs pictures!
Beautiful coin but the TVs make it totally stunning. I'm curious, are most or all of the scratches on the holder? Amazing, the cameo appearance kind of disappears but so does the scratching.
Mark
Great coin and a great transaction.
beautiful coin! Tough to let it go. Difficult to find another. Oh by the way, the bad news, don't forget to pay taxes on the profit. Uncle Sam wants his share.
Congratulations on the result. It is a lovely example.
Wow
No way could I have sold that. Beautiful coin.
No way I could have [afforded] to buy that coin.
Great coin and a nice profit, congrats
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Congratulations on accomplishing both your collecting and financial goals!
I have a few coins on my bucket list that feel out of my price range at the moment. Hopefully I can be a custodian of a couple of them at some point down the road.
@Gazes... A truly beautiful gold coin. Congratulations on both ownership and sale. Cheers, RickI
My friend @Gazes,
Don’t be a stranger.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Hairlines are very common among earlier proofs, hence you see so many graded in the low to mid 60s where everything nowadays is a 69 or 70. They go with the territory of proofs from this era unless your budget affords the ultra rare high grades… if such grades even exist for a given coin.
Definitely agree. It’s a beautiful coin that anyone would be proud of owning but what would you grade it with just looking at the TVs?
I see no scratches until I practically fill my IPAD’s screen up!
My guess is it would go far North of 65!😳
Thanks for sharing the above. In this hobby, you're also fortunate that you actually made some money on the coin. Some of the very rare, expensive coins, have gone up in value, but most of what I have has either held its own price wise or dropped 10-20% in value over the last 10 years, and none of what I have are common, easy to find coins.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
In hand, it did not look PR 63. I think it will end up with a higher grade. Everytime i looked at it, i would think it does not look real (but it was lol)! The contrast on it was amazing as well. Definitely a time when i can see the pictures dont do it justice---it is spectacular
Never owned one of this quality and understand your comment but the TrueViews look like they are a totally different coin. The hairlines are not there and the cameo appearance is nearly non-existant... only the few very minor tics prove to me they are the same coin.
Congrats @Gazes on the purchase/ownership, enjoyment and profit it gave you.
Mark
That's a great story. One can make money in coins, sometimes.... Too bad the IRS won't let you buy coins with a Roth IRA.
I have bought and sold coins plenty of times and have never had to report anything to the IRS. Profit or not. I can't think of a more stupid thing to do to voluntarily report a coin sell with a profit.
And what is your actual name, and address? (lol)
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
The losses do come in handy, though.
I'm sure the OP will be getting a 1099 from Legend.
Proofs can be lit two different ways (or a hybrid to mix the effects). The TrueViews light the mirrors, and that brightness masks the hairlines and greatly reduces the contrast between the fields and the devices. The slab shots light the devices and not the fields, which accentuates the contrast of the two and the hairlines in the fields. Proofs can be very difficult to shoot because even with the best intentions and no attempt at deceit, some feature can be accentuated to look better than the coin really does. Any flashy proof with some contrast can be made to look nearly perfect and/or much frostier than it actually is, and it's very easy to do so.
You have HAD to. It sounds like you CHOSE not to, but what you do or don't do has little bearing on what the law says you must do.
Great coin! Must have been tough letting it go. I've been there with a few coins. But I looked up the following, you may find interesting.
Value of $45,000 from 2000 to 2023,
$45,000 in 2000 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $78,877.00 today, an increase of $33,877.00 over 23 years.
In this respect, you may have lost money than coming out ahead.
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
Please redo your math @leothelyon. He bought the coin in June 2020, NOT in 2000!!!!! He clearly indicated in the OP that he bought the coin a few years ago, at the time of the start of the pandemic. GC records confirm the buying price and date of the auction, only three years ago!
Now let us know in this respect if he still may have lost money, or if not, how much ahead he came out?
Thanks.
Steve
P.S. That’s a SUPER impressive Jefferson Nickel collection, and “layout”!!!!!!!!
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Using a financial calculator, I came up with an annual return of 11.87% per year return. Quite a way from a loss!😂
Edit to add: Someone mentioned that a 1099 would be issued. This isn’t the case as it’s a sell of a “product.” 1099 MIsc. would be issued for “Services Rendered,” not for selling an item.
That being said, just because one’s not issued doesn’t forgive the tax liability in the eyes of the IRS.
Would perhaps be a good time to consider selling something that would generate a Capital Loss in this year to offset gain, if there is something that you want to get rid of.
Just a thought.
Truly a spectacular gold piece. It sure looks like it could grade at a MS65 looking at those grades in HA and comparing. What stopped you, of you had considered, from submitting for a reconsideration? Just curious.
Also, congrats on the successful sale but it must have been tough parting with it. Can't go wrong when buying quality!
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
LOL I was under the impression "several years" was more than just 3 years. I missed the point the OP had just acquired the coin before or during the pandemic. I have owned coins for 20 to 30 years. I still have 5-6 high-caliber certified coins on my desk that I have purchased in the last 2-3 years that I'm still studying/enjoying looking at before I inventory into my collection (lock them up), that I still consider as recent additions to my set. I consider myself lucky when I can find 1 to 3 coins per year. But only 3 years, heck, sounds more like a hiccup in time of a quick coin flip that took place in less than 36 months.
Yeah, turning 45 thou into 60 thou in that short of time is a very good profit!
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
Thank you. I just have never had an interest in playing the upgrade game. No special reason.
Just thought I would respond to some of the comments about selling such a beautiful coin. Yes, always difficult to part with a beautiful rare coin. But over the years I have sold coins periodically. Quite frankly, there are coins I purchased and loved that I would never have been able to purchase if I had not sold other coins before. Also, one dealer I respect when I discussed selling some coins years ago told me that very few top collectors never sold any of their coins---the only one he could think of was Pittman. Also, at least for me, the more expensive the coin, the higher likelihood that I will sell it when I have a profitable opportunity. If I have a cool coin that is relatively inexpensive I don't feel any pressure to ever sell. However, in this case with a coin at this level, holding on it to it "forever" is something I don't want to deal with or my heirs. Coin collecting is different for everyone. Personally, I love the chase---watching for certain coins, determining their quaility, learning about their history, pricing, etc. Ownership is great, but the chase is more fun for me. Everyone is different but this works for me. Finally, as hard as it is to sell a beautiful coin, one does get consolation when they check their bank account.
Yes. I didn't mean a 1099-MISC, but rather a 1099-K, like one would expect from eBay. Apologies for any confusion.
Gazes - great coin and congrats in the sale.
To provide a counter-balance here, perhaps representing a larger portion of collectors experiences, I'll just share that with 1 notable exception, almost every coin I've ever sold has been at a loss. I suspect I am deeply in the red on the remaining collection. And they are all wonderful cac'd high end gold coins. I have found it necessary to sell or trade up into better coins, but unfortunately have not been rewarded for doing so. So if you feel like you're doing something wrong after reading Gazes post, you're not alone!
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I certainly have had my share of losses too. The primary point of the OP was to point out that by taking a chance at an uncertain time (i.e the initial start of the pandemic) I was able to purchase a coin at a bargain price. In fact, I bought another proof gold coin from Great Collections about a week or two later (the $10 1899 PCGS PR 63 CAM CAC) that sold in the same Legend auction for a nice profit as well. These coins were available to anyone and going against "the crowd" helped me obtain some beautiful coins and later a nice profit.