I Almost mortgaged my house but....
CalGold
Posts: 2,608 ✭✭
There was an 1850 Baldwin $10, like my icon, up for sale in the November B&M auction. I have always wanted one of these. I was ready to mortgage my house to finance my bid. Then I stopped and remembered four important lessons I have learned on this board.
I decided not to buy because*:
1. Its not in good enough condition. Its only MS-64. A coin is not worth owning unless it grades at least MS-68.
2. Its not a good value. It sold for $155,250, including the juice. For that kind of money you can buy a truly rare and valuable coin like an MS-68 state quarter.
3. Its not a registry set coin. That means its not collectable.
4. It doesn’t have a collector’s name on the holder. Who knows where that coin has been? Only buy a coin if there is a collector’s name on the holder like Benson (wasn’t he the butler on "Soap"?) or Jack Lee (or better yet, Pinky Lee), or NFL (that means a football player kept the coin in his jock for good luck).
Just keep these four rules in mind and you won’t go wrong.
*Oh, yeah, there was one other reason. My wife said no. I said, hey look, there’s a horse on the reverse, and you love horses. She muttered something about being able to buy a whole stable for that kind of money and that was the end of that.
CG
I decided not to buy because*:
1. Its not in good enough condition. Its only MS-64. A coin is not worth owning unless it grades at least MS-68.
2. Its not a good value. It sold for $155,250, including the juice. For that kind of money you can buy a truly rare and valuable coin like an MS-68 state quarter.
3. Its not a registry set coin. That means its not collectable.
4. It doesn’t have a collector’s name on the holder. Who knows where that coin has been? Only buy a coin if there is a collector’s name on the holder like Benson (wasn’t he the butler on "Soap"?) or Jack Lee (or better yet, Pinky Lee), or NFL (that means a football player kept the coin in his jock for good luck).
Just keep these four rules in mind and you won’t go wrong.
*Oh, yeah, there was one other reason. My wife said no. I said, hey look, there’s a horse on the reverse, and you love horses. She muttered something about being able to buy a whole stable for that kind of money and that was the end of that.
CG
0
Comments
I'm not expert on territorial gold, so please forgive if my comment sounds too funny... But, couldn't you get a lesser graded piece for much less? Like, a ChEF specimen? They have history, these pieces, and why not get one that's actually seen commerce in the Old West?
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay
Boy, I'm really glad I decided not to re-mortgage the house and buy it!
Besides, I'm sure you could get more bang for the buck with an 1851!
Check out the Southern Gold Society