Is this 1903 gold $10 worth submitting?

nwcs

I got this one from ebay about 2 years ago when I first got back into the hobby again. I was disappointed when I got it because it looked cleaned (I didn't know at the time ebay was not a good place for raw coins...). I don't know much about grading gold nor about PCGS's policies. Anyone got any ideas as to if this is better than I think or about what I thought? (I thought XF Cleaned)

Thanks,

Neil

gemseeker

Without a close magnification, I would say the coin does appear to have quite a few hairlines which indicates some sort of cleaning. I have heard that there has been quite a few gold counterfeits being sold. I haven't submitted any coins for grading yet, but the criteria for grading gold is a bit more lenient than silver. If the coin turns out to be a fake, I am sure there will be buyers who would want that for their collection. The ANA might have a book or video that describes things to look at for fake coins.

jtryka

From the photos, there is nothing that suggests to me that it is counterfeit, though you can probably just check the weight to see if it measures up. It has difinitely been cleaned, so if you submit it, send it to ANACS as they will at least slab a cleaned coin and give it a net grade. Sending it to any other service will cost you time and money for them to put it back in a plastic bag and send it back to you. Even if not cleaned, the market for common date Liberty eagles remains very weak, and in many instances slabbed coins in lower grades sell for little premium over raw. So for any of you bargain hunters out there, you can find some very nice Liberty eagles out there for much lower prices than their larger or smaller brethren.

nwcs

I watched the video, actually, on counterfeits (I accidentally ordered it instead of the artificial toning one). I don't think this is a counterfeit. The design is strong (compared to a die struck counterfeit) and the surfaces aren't showing tooling or bubbles. I just don't want to waste $30 on my next submission if they'd body bag it.

Neil

nwcs

Thanks, jtryka, that's kind of what I thought. Oh well. I paid $150 for it in 2000, so hopefully I didn't get ripped too badly...

jtryka

Well NWCS, lucky for you, you bought it when gold was cheap. Melt value as of today's price of $311.20 is $150.54, so you didn't do bad at all. If you sell it on eBay and describe it accurately (unlike the person you bought it from), my guess is you'll probably get about $175 for it, or maybe $200 on a really good day.

darktone

Neil- it looks very real to me. I think your grading is right on. I don't think it would be worth taking the risk of getting a body bag but if you want it slabbed I would send it to ANACS and most likely get graded as AU details net XF. I have several lower grade and cleaned liberty gold coins and they are some of my favorite coins to look at. mike

jtryka

I agree, I have a couple of cleaned Saints that I like raw, since I can look at the edge and everything! And nothing matches the feel of a large heavy gold coin in your hand!

darktone

it is kind of neat to hold a bunch of raw US gold coins in your hands. mike

nwcs

True, holding it is really cool. Although nothing matches the sheer terror of the feeling when you drop it as I did when photographing it! Thankfully it got caught in the cuffs of my pants.

darktone

Don't feel bad I have dropped coins too. I dropped an MS barber dime once and I noticed a little mark on the reverse that I was not sure if it occurred when I dropped it or if it was already there. My eye was drawn to that mark everytime I looked at it so I had to sell it . Mike

BillJones

The coin is real, but I don't think that it's worth slabbing it. The 1903 eagle is a bit better than a common date, but not much more in EF. This coin has been cleaned or had something done to it. There are some tell-tail straight scratches on it that suggest they not just random marks.