Now here's something you don't see everyday

poptopsRus

A guy brought these into the shop today. They are the Commemorative 1996 Proof Smithsonian Institution Commemorative Dollar and $5 Gold pieces in the mint boxes. The CoA's are individually signed by both the obverse & reverse artists, Philip Diehl the mint director, Mary Ellen Withrow the Treasurer, and a 5th person I haven't been able to figure out who it is yet (maybe somebody from the Smithsonian).

The guy I bought them from said he went to a big presentation and that is where he got them autographed by everybody. The autographs look to be 100% genuine. Check 'em out:

MrKelso

ChangeInHistory

That makes the coins a lot more interesting. Nice to see.

XpipedreamR

How do you know how much to offer/price something like that?

poptopsRus

<< <i>How do you know how much to offer/price something like that? >>



Well you know it's worth more than bid, so you pull a number out of your azz and hope you did ok. Sometimes I shoot myself in the foot when I do this but more often than not I do ok.

relayer

Kinda neat, but personally I wouldn't pay any premium for a signed cert, either from the Mint or on a slab - even if the Pope herself signed it

DickyBetz

kranky

That other autograph is Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, late curator of the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection.

Russ

<< <i>even if the Pope herself signed it. >>



She signed a bunch.

Russ, NCNE

poptopsRus

<< <i>That other autograph is Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, late curator of the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection. >>



Damn I'm impressed. Thank you Kranky for figuring that out!

kranky

Glad I could help, Jared.

Myqqy

Just out of curiousity regarding the number you pulled out of your azz..... what percentage increase was it from what you would normally offer for those coins?

morgannut2

<< <i>Kinda neat, but personally I wouldn't pay any premium for a signed cert, either from the Mint or on a slab - even if the Pope herself signed it >>



That ironic--Old Elviria cateloged a number of the Pope's (Vatican) coins as well as a ton of super rare European Coinage in major collections, before coming to US. Perhaps the most knowledgeable numismatist overall in the world and top expert for Smithsonian. She wasn't liked in DC because she thought our coinage no longer beautiful, and was now boring. She liked World moderns however!!!

numonebuyer

That is very nice.

Thanks for sharing that with us.

poptopsRus

<< <i>Just out of curiousity regarding the number you pulled out of your azz..... what percentage increase was it from what you would normally offer for those coins? >>



Well I figured I'd take them to ANA Atlanta next week with 3 digit prices on them and just see what the reaction is. If they sell great and if they don't I'll likely put them on Ebay at sometime in the future and just see what happens. Personally I think they are kinda neat and should be worth some sort of premium.