Is there a "deader" US coin series than early gold commems?

RYK · October 17, 2012 9:29AM

I know that there have been a few posted here over the years, but I cannot think of a series that is less active. IIRC, BillJones might own a few. As a gold coin specialist, I have never met someone who collected these, as a series. They seem to linger for sale interminably. They are small, have mostly uninspiring designs, and are expensive.

Post your early gold commems here! (I have never owned one so have nothing to show

)

Justacommeman · October 17, 2012 9:30AM

no

MJ

TahoeDale · October 17, 2012 9:37AM

When a coin series gets cheap enough, there always will be buyers.

And the $50 Pan Pacs are still strong. Most collectors dream about owning one.

edit: just checked the registry, and there are more gold commen collections than almost any
other gold type.

LindeDad · October 17, 2012 9:42AM

<< no

MJ >>

PerryHall · October 17, 2012 9:51AM

I think the small size of the 9 gold dollars hurt their popularity. The two quarter eagles are a bit larger but they are only dime sized. I think it's a neat series and I put together a complete 11 piece PCGS/NGC set several years ago in MS63/64. The coins are readily available and they aren't extremely expensive. I sure wish I could afford the round and octagon Pan. Pac. $50 gold slugs though.

Goldbully · October 17, 2012 9:53AM

Here's mine..........

Weiss · October 17, 2012 10:20AM

I remember seeing the gold commems when I was a kid and thinking how cool they were. Yeah, the $50 Pan-Pacs, but I think the fact that the $1 coins were tiny (kid sized, if you will) made an impact, too.

I was 4 when I started collecting, and I distinctly remember thinking that the Pan Pac guy was shouting

Love the design even more now, and I'm thrilled I own this Mark Feld piece:

Lakesammman · October 17, 2012 11:44AM

Just bought a 1926 Sesqui - now I feel like a dork.......

kiyote · October 17, 2012 2:55PM

I have to sound negative on the series but if you've seen one Pan Pac gold dollar you've seen them all.

mozin · October 17, 2012 3:17PM

Here is one of my most expensive Classic Gold Commemoratives. I agree the design is not very exciting.

This one I think has a much better design.

HoledandCreative · October 17, 2012 3:27PM

jhdfla · October 17, 2012 3:39PM

I've always thought the $2.50 Pan Pac to be a great design. My one and only gold commem:

MsMorrisine · October 17, 2012 3:51PM

Lincoln shield cents... To answer an apparently rhetorical question.

PerryHall · October 17, 2012 3:51PM

The obverse of the Pan. Pac. $2 1/2 is one of my favorite U.S. designs----Liberty holding a caduceus while riding on the back of a hippocampus.

stealer · October 17, 2012 3:55PM

I'm partial to the Grant design, just love the minimized version of the half dollar design.

MsMorrisine · October 17, 2012 3:56PM

The Grant is ok

ColonelJessup · October 18, 2012 12:15AM

Silver commems?

That's a very weird-looking proof(?) LA Purchase. Just wrong, so wrong. Way too much cameo and the rev strike is suspect as a proof, obv looks polished and I have no idea what lighting phenomenon could create the "pie-chart" effect on the reverse. I'bve seen dozens but never one like that. Or a business strike appearing DMPL...

I'd love to hear njcc's take on the coin imaged. He knows the LA Purchase proofs better than anyone.

Did I mention lately that I'm partially blind?

Bayard1908 · October 18, 2012 1:02AM

I like the $1 coins. It's a denomination that otherwise hadn't been minted since 1889. I find them interesting for this reason alone.

The series ended before the mid-1930s commem craze. Because of this the coins do not have the often trivial themes, thought up for strictly marketing reasons, of many post 1935 commems.

topstuf · October 18, 2012 1:15AM

Only the Pan-Pac 50s have any panache.

coinsarefun · October 18, 2012 1:18AM

<< Just bought a 1926 Sesqui - now I feel like a dork.......

>>

I don't

GeorgeKellogg · October 18, 2012 1:51AM

<< I know that there have been a few posted here over the years, but I cannot think of a series that is less active. IIRC, BillJones might own a few. As a gold coin specialist, I have never met someone who collected these, as a series. They seem to linger for sale interminably. They are small, have mostly uninspiring designs, and are expensive. >>

I trust RYK's judgment, as I don't know much about early gold commems. Based on RYK's assessment, I'd venture to say that they are "as dead as Kelsey's nuts," which was a favorite expression of President John F. Kennedy. Now have some fun trying to determine the origin of the phrase.

Manorcourtman · October 18, 2012 2:01AM

<< Only the Pan-Pac 50s have any panache. >>

pa·nache /pəˈnæʃ, -ˈnɑʃ/ Show Spelled[puh-nash, -nahsh]
noun
1. a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair: The actor who would play Cyrano must have panache.
2. an ornamental plume of feathers, tassels, or the like, especially one worn on a helmet or cap.
3. Architecture . the surface of a pendentive.

For those who were wondering!

Justacommeman · October 18, 2012 3:02AM

<< Just bought a 1926 Sesqui - now I feel like a dork.......

>>

A dork with a Sesqui

I think that was actually a line in Pulp Fiction

MJ

PerryHall · October 18, 2012 3:46AM

<< I like the $1 coins. It's a denomination that otherwise hadn't been minted since 1889. I find them interesting for this reason alone. >>

Weren't dollar coins minted after 1889 in silver?

ColonelJessup · October 18, 2012 4:45AM

<< 

<< Only the Pan-Pac 50s have any panache. >>

pa·nache /pəˈnæʃ, -ˈnɑʃ/ Show Spelled[puh-nash, -nahsh]
noun
1. a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair: The actor who would play Cyrano must have panache.
2. an ornamental plume of feathers, tassels, or the like, especially one worn on a helmet or cap.
3. Architecture . the surface of a pendentive.

For those who were wondering! >>

This post shows a great deal of elan

mozin · October 18, 2012 5:06AM

This thread revived my interest in this Classic Commemorative Gold set, so I just started an NGC Registry Set for my collection. I needed to go to NGC because I have a number of NGC PL examples. The PLs cost a lot more than the coins without the PL on the label, but the Registry only gives token points for the PL.

johnny9434 · October 18, 2012 5:16AM

them old gold commems. are really cool to own. i like several of them

BillJones · October 18, 2012 5:16AM

<< I know that there have been a few posted here over the years, but I cannot think of a series that is less active. IIRC, BillJones might own a few. As a gold coin specialist, I have never met someone who collected these, as a series. They seem to linger for sale interminably. They are small, have mostly uninspiring designs, and are expensive.

Post your early gold commems here! (I have never owned one so have nothing to show

) >>

BillJones has one of each.

The gold commemoratives have been subject to a number of promotions which drove up the prices, but then when that market proved to be "astro-turf," the prices came back down, sometimes HARD.

I know of a couple of dealers who specialize in classic U.S. coins who will make the sign of the cross with their fingers (Ward off those vampires!) if you offer them or even mention a gold commemorative like the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial. They are as turned off by those coins, at least from a business sense, as they are by "modern junk."

The $50 slugs are still popular and bring strong prices. This is especially true because the supply has actually gone down in recent years. How can that be? Fears about pieces that have been puttied and repaired are a concern, and coins that show signs of such problems are basically out of the supply curve as desirable collectors' items.

As for the rest of the series, the small size of the gold dollars makes them less desirable as it does for all gold dollars. When I was a dealer I had a couple of collectors refuse to by any gold dollars because of the size issue. The before mentioned Philadelphia Sesqui does not have enough admirers to support a strong market, and the Pan-Pac $2.50 is a genuinely scarce coin which does not offer enough survivors to warrant any major marketing programs.

As for "dead" I'd say that the whole early commemorative series, including the silver, is in the doldrums and has been there for a long time. Aside from the coins that really commemorated important events, like the Antietam and Gettysburg 75th anniversary battlefield coins many of these coins were not that important from the historical perspective. Folks who collect the First Lady series should keep that in mind before they pay much over bullion for those coins..

To me this is the most interesting coin in the series because of its eight sided shape.

RYK · October 18, 2012 5:27AM

The Pan Pac slugs are iconic US coins and do not fit in the overall thesis of my thread. I am mostly talking about the gold dollars. I do like the Grant design but would prefer it in the half dollar size.

RYK · October 18, 2012 5:40AM

Mark Feld just emailed me the following:

<<

From: Mark Feld <coinguy1@earthlink.net>
Subject: Dead gold commems
Date: October 18, 2012 2:36:52 PM CDT

Hi Robert,

I had bought one, here in Dallas, before reading your thread. However, based on your comments, I went ahead and melted it. And I feel much better and smarter now

Please feel free to post this if you wish.

Sincerely,
Mark

>>

I guess there is one fewer coin to worry about.

Barndog · October 18, 2012 5:41AM

<< Mark Feld just emailed me the following:

<<

From: Mark Feld <coinguy1@earthlink.net>
Subject: Dead gold commems
Date: October 18, 2012 2:36:52 PM CDT

Hi Robert,

I had bought one, here in Dallas, before reading your thread. However, based on your comments, I went ahead and melted it. And I feel much better and smarter now

Please feel free to post this if you wish.

Sincerely,
Mark

>>

I guess there is one fewer coin to worry about.

>>

just making them even more rare, cool!

CalicoJack · October 18, 2012 5:51AM

<< They seem to linger for sale interminably. They are small, have mostly uninspiring designs, and are expensive. >>

It sounds to me like the market is trying to say that they overpriced.

While the Pan-Pac Expo may have have a small run, there are 50 of them on ebay at any given time. That doesn't make them scarce.

BillJones · October 18, 2012 5:57AM

<< The Pan Pac slugs are iconic US coins and do not fit in the overall thesis of my thread. I am mostly talking about the gold dollars. I do like the Grant design but would prefer it in the half dollar size. >>

Among the commemorative gold dollars, I think that the Grant pieces are the most attractive. I view the Pan-Pac with the laborer on the obverse and the two dolphins on the reverse (Symbolic of the meeting of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans) on the reverse the most interesting.

keets · October 18, 2012 6:28AM

They are small, have mostly uninspiring designs, and are expensive.

the part about "uninspiring designs" is sort of intriguing to me when i consider that the entire realm of Gold $2 1/2--$5--$10--$20 issues shared the same design for 60+ years.

traelin0 · October 18, 2012 6:30AM

I know of only one person, ever (personally), who cared enough about them to build the set...to the point that he was talking about acquiring the Norse. "He" would be my father. Not sure what the status of his set is anymore. I do believe the Norse is the last hole. If that's the last hole in his set then I'd call it complete, but then again, I really don't like them much outside of the round and oct.

darktone · October 18, 2012 8:17AM

WinLoseWin · October 18, 2012 9:01AM

HoledandCreative posted:

<<

>>

Now that would be one of the few gold dollar commems I would appreciate. Was anyone enameling them at the exposition or is it a one of kind piece?

As far as the others in the series, I do like the two quarter eagle designs.

HoledandCreative · October 18, 2012 3:11PM

WinLoseWin, I always thought it to have been done at the expo because it was so well done. If I remember correctly, a few years ago another one appeared in a sale but I don't know of any details.

PerryHall · October 18, 2012 9:24PM

<< HoledandCreative posted:

<<

>>

Now that would be one of the few gold dollar commems I would appreciate. Was anyone enameling them at the exposition or is it a one of kind piece?

As far as the others in the series, I do like the two quarter eagle designs. >>

Many of the gold commems were made into jewelry. I was offered an L & C dollar by a coin dealer that was lightly circulated and was in Capital holder. It had a nice look to it with light toning and had a reasonable price. Before buying it I took it out of the holder and discovered a trace of solder on the edge at 12:00. It was obviously an ex-jewelry coin. The coin dealer pretended that he never noticed that. Lesson learned---be careful buy any raw gold---especially the smaller coins.

CommemDude · October 18, 2012 9:36PM

PCGS alone has graded 3665 Pan Pac gold dollars as MS64 or better.. add the NGC coins and when you realize there are very few collectors interested in collecting all 11 coins in this series, they still seem overpriced in my opinion.