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Dang, they STOLE this one...

...and I saw it maybe five seconds too late to finish my snipe. Someone got a nice bargain:

1881-S Half Eagle, NGC AU-58, $126

Comments

  • cohodkcohodk Posts: 19,102 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That is a little too chewed up for my tastes.
    Excuses are tools of the ignorant

    Knowledge is the enemy of fear

  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>That is a little too chewed up for my tastes. >>

    Mine, too, and I already have a much nicer half eagle for my type set. But still, that's about as cheap as I've seen a half eagle go for in a long time. I was ready to snipe at $140 but I was too late.
  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 24,335 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Far too many marks. Be happy you didn't win it.
    All glory is fleeting.
  • BarryBarry Posts: 10,100 ✭✭✭
    Agree with above comments. I've seen other chewed up NGC 58's in gold. They are way too lenient with that grade.
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Agree with above comments. I've seen other chewed up NGC 58's in gold. They are way too lenient with that grade. >>

    Agreed. It's nowhere near worth AU-58 money or even AU-50 money, IMO. But do a search on slabbed half eagles and see if you find anything much below $170, let alone $126.

    It's not so much that I wanted this coin as much as I think, despite the hits, that's an awful cheap price for a piece of slabbed U.S. gold. It would just sit in my box anyway until I had a chance to flip it.
  • rheddenrhedden Posts: 6,626 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ugly coin. You get what you pay for.
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,964 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>That is a little too chewed up for my tastes. >>



    Yep, my reaction exactly. $5 libs are the most common "old" gold coins going. Anything below Choice Unc. MS-63, can be had pretty cheap, especially if it has a lot of marks like this one.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • krankykranky Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭
    I agree the coin went cheap for the grade, but it's a textbook example of why even circulated coins shouldn't be bought sight-unseen. A gold coin with a bit of rub and great fields can have the same AU58 grade, and look far nicer.

    New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.

  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I agree the coin went cheap for the grade, but it's a textbook example of why even circulated coins shouldn't be bought sight-unseen. A gold coin with a bit of rub and great fields can have the same AU58 grade, and look far nicer. >>

    I know. Here's mine:

    image
  • WaterSportWaterSport Posts: 6,770 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yeah, ugly, but in a melted state he still got more gold then he is paying for.

    WS
    Proud recipient of the coveted PCGS Forum "You Suck" Award Thursday July 19, 2007 11:33 PM and December 30th, 2011 at 8:50 PM.
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Yeah, ugly, but in a melted state he still got more gold then he is paying for. >>



    No he didn't.

    Russ, NCNE
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,964 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Russ is right.

    In Mint State condition these $5 gold coins contain .24187 ounce of gold. At $400 an ounce that comes to $96.75. This one might have less gold in it since it is circulated a chopped up.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?

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