Wooo, a 1974-S PCGS MS69 Ike dollar on ebay

jcping

The coin must be newly slabbed. I wish wondercoin could post a picture here.

It is very surprise that PCGS graded 2 MS69 coin in a month. Does PCGS Ike dollar grading standards are loosing now.

wondercoin

JCPing: Actually, I graded the 74(s) and the coin is sensational. If it does not sell in the meantime, I'll have the coin at Long Beach later this month if anyone cares to examine it. This coin is well deserving Wondercoin

TWQG

MS69 IKE WOW

Registry worthy topic I think.

braddick

Nice. Just try going through sets of these coins looking for markfree, lusterous beauties. The MS67's are out there but the 68's are scarce and I never thought a 74-S could ever be located in 69.
Congratulations Mitch! There's a part of me that wants you to have a successful sale on eBay but a selfish part of me that hopes the coin is still available for viewing at Long Beach!

GRANDAM

I had the good fortune of being able to examine this coin at Central States in St Louis last Friday. Wondercoin is correct. This IKE Dollar is the most spectular example I have ever seen. It has mark free surfaces & has the most brilliant luster I have ever seen on an Eisenhower Dollar. It is a PQ coin for sure!!!

GrandAm

wondercoin

Grandam: Thanks for that assessment. I know you have examined thousands of specimens, so that means a lot to me, coming from you.

I personally started searching HARD for high grade 1974(s) silver Ikes around 1983-84. I spent a couple years buying all the original blue packs I could in search of the finest specimens I could locate. My search, of course, also focused on all the other silver Ikes as well. After years of searching, I believe I located roughly a few dozen 1974(s) specimens that justified an MS68 grade (many of these I just threw in safeflips and never graded). This MS69 is, by far, the nicest 1974(s) I have ever encountered. Certainly, there might be more MS69 specimens out there, but, it did take 16 years or so to grade this first one and MS68 coins still are very tough to locate of this date.

Of course, putting a price on an MS69 Ike is a difficult task. Is it worth the price of (2) 1979(s) Ty 1 Lincoln Cents in PCGS-PR70DCAM (repeat common Ty 1, not Ty 2), which have sold for upwards of nearly $10,000/coin recently at public auction? I personally wouldn't want (5) of those PR70 Lincolns vs. this Ike, but, of course, that does not mean the Ike should be a $50,000 coin. Pop 1 coins are special coins, but, of course, there is a great deal of risk involved in pricing them to sell or considering a price to buy them at, as no one has a crystal ball to know exactly how long a coin such as this will remain "pop 1".

Wondercoin

tgilliams

HI Mitch
I respect you emmensely, but did I just read you graded the 74 Ike? I once again looked at your auction and does not say self graded. What would happen if the person paid the 16M or so and sent it into PCGS to be graded and one of their less talented graders came back with an ms68. Please your grading skills and knowledge of coins is second to none. But couldn't you be putting yourself in a potential bad situation, if I read this post and the listing correctly. This is not a flame or in anyway questioning your expertise, but just more or less a legal liability question.

GRANDAM

This coin is in a PCGS holder graded as MS69. I think Mitch meant he simply agreed with the grade.

GrandAm

wondercoin

TGilliams: Grandam is correct. I graded the 74(s), as opposed to having bought it from someone else who graded it (which I usually do). Sorry for the confusion.

Wondercoin

sonofagunk

Come on Mitch, $15K and you can't spend the $0.25 to post a picture? (also, you have a typo in the email address that you posted)

wondercoin

Son/gunk: Thanks for comment on typo.

The top wholesalers in the country still sell hundreds of millions of dollars of coins per year from an emailed list of coins without pictures to the top dealers in the country (I receive a list every couple of days from the different sources). I operate along the same lines - if you are seriously interested in something, forget a picture, with reasonable references (generally as simple as "Do you know MWoods" ), I'LL GENERALLY SHIP YOU THE COIN WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT FOR YOUR PRIVATE EXAMINATION IN YOUR HOME. For example, Lucy was interested in the 58(d) half in PCGS-MS67FBL last week I was offering and was curious about the color - forget a scan - it is in the mail to her for her personal inspection and I have never done $1 in business with her before (and this is not a "cheapie" coin).

This is just a "style" of doing business thing as far as I am concerned and I can assure you that I never have to lose sleep over whether anyone might think my scans were altered. Wondercoin

mdwoods

sonoagunk. I have purchased many coins sight unseen from Mitch. He always gives an honest description, plus you can always return the coin. I saw the 74 S in 69 in St. Louis. It is magnificent, with a super frosty luster. Also it is the cleanest Ike I have ever seen. I bought a 63 D 66FBL Franklin from Mitch unseen, because, after saying no once, he told me that I REALLY DID WANT THE COIN. When he said that, I knew it had to be special, and it is. Finally, the best picture I have ever taken did not do justice to the coin. Pictures are nice, but they simply cannot show the coin except for one view. Everyone I know studies a coin from many angles to appreciate it fully. I guess what I am trying to say, if you want quality coins, you can't go wrong with Mitch. mdwoods

sonofagunk

I know Mitch's rep, and if I could afford any of his high end I would purchase them based on his description (knowing his great return policy). Just sometimes the picture puts me over the edge. Not really interested in Ikes, but if the pictures are out there, it gets people excited and in the future might stir more interest in the Ike market in general.

Also, I would have thought that Mitch would keep a picture of every high end coin that he has handled just for his own personal scrap book. If he were willing to do that, I would be more than willing to set up a site so that they could be shared with everyone.

keithdagen

Finally, the best picture I have ever taken did not do justice to the coin. Pictures are nice, but they simply cannot show the coin except for one view.

Mark,

You're right, but let's face it, how many people would kill for a single view of a coin of this caliber? Wouldn't it be a greater service to show a nice pic or two of the coin, since there may be hundreds interested in seeing it, but only one who will walk away with it?

mdwoods

You are right Keith. I should have taken my camera. I probably could have gotten a decent shot. My camera and a couple lights are going with me to Baltimore. I should be able to post some nice photos from the hotel. Mark.

wondercoin

Mark: Come to Long Beach at the end of the month with your equipment I'll put you up at the Westin

Wondercoin

RELLA

I think that when it comes to a coin like this pictures don't matter as much. Other times they can be very important. I recently posted a picture of a common date 1942-S Lincoln in uncommonly nice condition that I recently sold. My guess is if I were to sell that coin on eBay without the photo I would be leaving over one half (maybe way more than one half) of my potential earnings on the table versus selling it with the photo. When the grade tells you everything you need to know (74-S Ike PCGS MS69!) that changes things a bit.

RELLA

slugfootball

Hello Mitch,

Are you going to bring other Ike's to Long Beach?
I went to L. B. a few years ago and was disapointed there were not many
Ike's to be seen !!
Again, I would love to see any high grade silver or clad pcs.

Thank you

segoja

Not only did Mitch make a 74-S in MS69, but the pop on the 72-S went up by one as well.

Double the MS69 Pop in less than 3 weeks....what does that tell us????

As I understand the coins are all phenomenal, so maybe PCGS hasn't loosened up, but who knows.

Time will tell.

Anyway congrats on the high end Ikes!

James

fantasiize

Wow, we used to have 3 72s in MS69 and we now have 5 72s in MS69 and a 74s in MS69. Congratulations to the three lucky folks.

And now, what next, a 71s in MS68 and a 76s in MS69 ??

wondercoin

"Not only did Mitch make a 74-S in MS69, but the pop on the 72-S went up by one as well."

Guys: I slabbed that coin as well. I now own 3 out of the 6 MS69 Ikes ever graded. Yes, I could have waiting until I sold the first 72(s) I purchased before sending in my (2) "lock" MS69 coins, but I decided the rise in pop was irrelevant to anything I was doing and I had no intention of "playing games" with anyone by holding back the coins. I have my asking prices for each of the 3 coins and if I do not get the right price for each of the coins, I am happy to hold them for a while (although I have received an invitation to consign one or two to a major auction)

Wondercoin

wondercoin

Slugfootball: I may have the Ikes with me at Long Beach. I agree with you that the previous Long Beach shows were very weak on high end MS moderns. Finding top grade Kennedies, Ikes, Memorials, etc. is very difficult, but I believe that is changing. I expect to see more of this material at the shows in the years ahead.

Wondercoin

braddick

To me a true sign of a coin being PQ for the grade is when a Dealer is more than willing to simply hang on to the coin rather then sell at any discount.
Congratulations Mitch. Owning half the population of a popular coin is tremendous.