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Here's an MS69 (!) $10 gold piece...
dan1ecu
Posts: 1,573
dan1ecu
Posts: 1,573
Comments
<< <i>I find it amazing coins over 100 years old can still survive in almost perfect condition
WOW!
Toned Coins for sale @ tonedcointrader.com
<< <i>
I'll second that.
Perhaps the price is just too steep.
Is your conscience at rest if once put to the test?
You awake with a start to just the beating of your heart.
Just one man beneath the sky,
Just two ears, just two eyes.
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series
it cant compare to the 1933 Saint,but ?
is there any other early gold piece in that condition ?
Proof
It's not any of the three reasons why someone has disposable income that sounds like you are jealous others have. The majority of them that DO, are hard-working, highly educated, and have helped many others with their families and careers. The three examples you touched upon explains a dealer that takes advantage of the poor old widow that has a collection from her deceased spouse and wants to sell it, without any knowledge of what she has. I bought a silver dollar 5 years ago at auction, and sold it at auction recently for $45000 more than I paid for it. Is that luck? Or is it maybe I am educated enough to KNOW we are in a bull market with coins, and I sold at a high. That's capitalism. I'm not one of those Americans sitting their A** in front of the TV every night complaining about the haves and everything else, when they could get off the couch and do something for and about themselves.
<< <i>CCEX:
It's not any of the three reasons why someone has disposable income that sounds like you are jealous others have. The majority of them that DO, are hard-working, highly educated, and have helped many others with their families and careers. The three examples you touched upon explains a dealer that takes advantage of the poor old widow that has a collection from her deceased spouse and wants to sell it, without any knowledge of what she has. I bought a silver dollar 5 years ago at auction, and sold it at auction recently for $45000 more than I paid for it. Is that luck? Or is it maybe I am educated enough to KNOW we are in a bull market with coins, and I sold at a high. That's capitalism. I'm not one of those Americans sitting their A** in front of the TV every night complaining about the haves and everything else, when they could get off the couch and do something for and about themselves. >>
I eschew TV and rarely complain in public about the haves vs. have nots when it comes to buying expensive coins. My point was that spectacular collector coins such as this MS-69 1899-S eagle are only a dream for most collectors.
Simply becoming well educated, working hard, and helping many people with their families and careers does not necessarily lead to the income now necessary to purchases POP1 coins. My degrees, graduate school experience as career counselor, and 15 years of working 75 hour weeks (and loving it, most of the time), have nevertheless led to personal disposable income less than "juice" on this auction.
My work, education, and experience allow me to spot many $500 pieces of used computer hardware in someone's trash. I recently sold a discarded HP Plotter for $1400 (after tinkering, testing, and typing) with acquisition cost no more than the time and truck mileage it took to pick it up from a government agency that once paid $10,000 for it and declared it worthless. I don't expect that a $45,000 profit on a single silver dollar in five years is possible without the luxury of being able to bid five figueres in the first place.
I did not imply that all those who can bid in bigtime auctions got there by ripping off ignorant widows selling off their husband's collections. I have met many ethical coin dealers with expensive inventories. Yes, they have used their education to their advantage, turning coins over at a small makup consistently for 30 or 40 years. I'll even say that those coin dealers who are the greediest are not among the most prosperous or long-lived.
My concern is that a successful bid on a POP1 collector coin such as this is now well beyond the range of most normal collectors, and that it might end up as a gaudy showpiece for someonone who can drop at an auction the annual income of 800 West African farmers.
I am not necessarily jealous of the big players who can afford to buy this coin. I am appreciative of this forum, where modest collectors can, without a cover charge, see images and read commentary of droolworthy coins. However, I regret that our hobby has become one of elitists who often belittle those with more enthusiasm and knowledge than cash.
I started collecting coins when I was 11 years old, and kept up with it through most of high school, becoming involved again from 1986-88 and 1999 to present. When my classmates entered law or medical school (specializing in "diseases of the rich"), became commodities traders, and other well-compensated occupations to prepare themselves for a lifetime of meeting high expenses, I joined the Peace Corps to learn how most people get by with scant resources. I sometimes felt guilty earning twice as much as my more experienced host-country counterparts when I was in the Peace Corps. Fortunately, I learned how to be happy improvising with the scant resources dealt me, and saw why most of the world considers Americans ugly capitalists.
My budget now allows me to have lots of fun upgrading my circulated sets of Barber coins (some of which are literally filthy), plus an occasional type coin or early U.S. Commemorative. As much as I would love to have an Eliasberg-pedigreed coin in my collection, I regret that collecting the finest in U.S. coins is a hobby for the filthy rich. I just ask those with the means to consider coins such as these to realize that the same coins might be desirable to the underclass of coin collectors, rather than call us filthy, lazy or ignorant couch potatoes.
<< <i>...When my classmates entered law or medical school (specializing in "diseases of the rich"), became commodities traders, and other well-compensated occupations to prepare themselves for a lifetime of meeting high expenses, I joined the Peace Corps to learn how most people get by with scant resources...
...I am not necessarily jealous of the big players who can afford to buy this coin... >>
Oh really? Sure sounds like it to me. Maybe another trip to Haiti would do you good and you'll lose some of those sour grapes.
One nice thing about this forum is it brings together everyone, from the YN buying coins with paper route money to the very wealthy buying POP 1 coins. It's just nice to be able to share everyone's enthusiam about their collection, at whatever level that may be.