1884 Trade Proof at $264,500 and 1885 Trade Proof at $862,500 as of 12:30AM ET

morgannut2

Now I love Trade Dollars and I know there's 10 of one and 5 of the other, but do forum members think these bids are too low or too high right now? The 1885 is not exactly a pristine beauty, so it must be the rarity. Any ideas how high these coins will go (they're pictured on the davidlawrence.com web site)? Any bets on another of either showing up in the next year?

tradedollarnut

The 1885 is nicer than the picture.... but it's not real high grade. I expect it to creep a bit higher. The 1884 is not that great of a coin - used to be a 62 as well.

RYK

Bruce,

Would you kindly post the final prices for both when you know?

...I know there's 10 of one and 5 of the other...

I think that the "10" mintage number for 1884 proof Trades is incorrect. The combined PCGS/NGC population is 15 coins, and we all know these reports are infallible. The mint must have made a mistake...or perhaps there are counterfeits in PCGS/NGC slabs.

LanLord

<< <i>Bruce, Would you kindly post the final prices for both when you know? ...I know there's 10 of one and 5 of the other... I think that the "10" mintage number for 1884 proof Trades is incorrect. The combined PCGS/NGC population is 15 coins, and we all know these reports are infallible. The mint must have made a mistake...or perhaps there are counterfeits in PCGS/NGC slabs. >>

Was the population of 10 from mint records or from anecdotal information from the number of specimens which were in collections? For some reason I thought the mint had no record of the 1884 and 1885 releases!

Russ

The auction descriptions for coins like these make for some great reading!

Russ, NCNE

shylock

The auction descriptions for coins like these make for some great reading!

Was thinking the same thing. I appreciate TDN's examples even more after reading that and seeing his examples at #1 & #2 of the census list they provide. It's hard to judge the Richmond coins by their photos. The coppers all have a very dark tint to them, darker than DLRC's inventory pics, which makes me think they were imaged by someone else.

tradedollarnut

1884: $270,000 + 15%
1885: $875,000 + 15%

The first $1,000,000 Trade Dollar [at public auction]!

Russ

That puts the 1885 over $1 million. How does that compare to previous sales?

Edit: I see you answered while I was typing.

Russ, NCNE

tradedollarnut

The Eliasberg coin sold for $907,500 in 1997. It sold for much more in 1999 in a private transaction. The Amon Carter coin sold for $920,000 in 2003 and resold privately for much more this year. I think I had predicted that the Norweb coin would be right around $1,000,000 so no big surprise on the price. I do know the winning bidder was willing to go higher.

Steady march onward....

Russ

<< <i>The Eliasberg coin sold for $907,500 in 1997. It sold for much more in 1999 in a private transaction. >>



Who bought it?

Russ, NCNE

tradedollarnut

Some stupid idiot that paid Parrino waaayyy too much profit.


Perhaps an interesting story: I was offered the Norweb 1884 and 1885 back in 1996 as part of a complete trade dollar set. At the time it was a stretch for me, so I really wanted them to be nice. When I saw the 1885, I decided no because I didn't like the look of the coin. I had figured it at $350k in the deal and the 1884 at $150k. I ended up buying the 1884 individually for just under $100k when the deal was bought and broken up. The 1885 was placed in the Richmond collection shortly thereafter.

I sometimes wonder if I'd have been better off with the PR62 Norweb coin at $350k in 1996 dollars than the PR66 Eliasberg coin at $1,500k in 1999 dollars. Dunno - guess it depends on what I did with the difference, eh?

The 1884 ended up getting traded in a couple of times on upgrades until I finally got the Eliasberg 1884. I'm very happy with that one - so much so that I turned down the opportunity to buy the Starr coin [PCGS PR67].

MrEureka

Here's an interesting thought for you. Every denomination of 1885 coinage is known to exist in aluminum except the Trade Dollar and the Cent. It seems unlikely that those two denominations were not struck, so there's a good chance that the coins will surface sooner or later. BTW, the denominations that are known to exist in aluminum are all R-8's, so we're not talking about all that many cents and TD's in hiding.

It would be cool to find the only known aluminum 1885 Trade Dollar, eh?

shylock

Call me easy, but I'd get a much bigger rise finding an 1885 aluminum cent

morgannut2

Well I'm glad that TDN didn't try to buy the 1933 St. Gaudians from Mr. Parrino---it's tough to post treads from jail! I didn't realize there were more proofs in the Pop. Reports than coins known to exist! Does this mean that COIN VALUES (from C.W.) prices are wrong too?!!!! Let's see $325,000 for an 1885 in PR-63 and $125,000 for an 1884 in PR-63. Where do they get these numbers!!!

MrEureka

Call me easy, but I'd get a much bigger rise finding an 1885 aluminum cent

Actually, I was wrong. I just missed the listing in Judd and didn't bother trying to think if I had seen any. I have. There was one in the Loye Lauder collection. Maybe more out there, but I don't think I've seen any others.