Coin Story - 1873 $3.00 Gold

I was talking with a Veteran this past weekend and we got to talking about coins. This is his story:
A good friend of his recently passed and left him 3 gold coins. The friend had been given the 3 gold coins, a $3.00, a $5.00 and a $10.00 on his 18th birthday back in the teens. The coins had remained in a drawer the guy's entire life. The VET new something of coins and did a little research. The $5.00 and $10.00 were common dates, no surprise there. The $3.00 turned out to be a 1873 - almost the key for the set with a mintage of just 100. What a find! I assume it was the business strike but who knows, it may have been a proof.
So he brought them to a coin dealer, and in true coin dealer fashion, was offered $5000 for the $3.00 gold. He politely declined and left. I told him he needs to contact PCGS, have them certified, graded and encapsulated, and if he wanted to sell it (which I think he does) to contact a reputable coin auction house. He had never hear of PCGS and wanted to know if they were reputable. I directed him to their website (his grandson was there and will help him). I also suggested that he either walk-in and pay the $100 coin-show fee or contact PCGS for their reccomended method of delivering such a valuable coin.
He didn't feel as though the coin was super high grade but said it did look really nice.
What a find!
A good friend of his recently passed and left him 3 gold coins. The friend had been given the 3 gold coins, a $3.00, a $5.00 and a $10.00 on his 18th birthday back in the teens. The coins had remained in a drawer the guy's entire life. The VET new something of coins and did a little research. The $5.00 and $10.00 were common dates, no surprise there. The $3.00 turned out to be a 1873 - almost the key for the set with a mintage of just 100. What a find! I assume it was the business strike but who knows, it may have been a proof.
So he brought them to a coin dealer, and in true coin dealer fashion, was offered $5000 for the $3.00 gold. He politely declined and left. I told him he needs to contact PCGS, have them certified, graded and encapsulated, and if he wanted to sell it (which I think he does) to contact a reputable coin auction house. He had never hear of PCGS and wanted to know if they were reputable. I directed him to their website (his grandson was there and will help him). I also suggested that he either walk-in and pay the $100 coin-show fee or contact PCGS for their reccomended method of delivering such a valuable coin.
He didn't feel as though the coin was super high grade but said it did look really nice.
What a find!
My Registry Sets! PCGS Registry
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Comments
I agree that he should get the coin certified. Let us know how this turns out.