What Does a Virtually “Perfect” 19th Century Gold Coin Look Like?

TopographicOceans

1884 G$1 MS68+

Better picture from Boosibri's link below

brg5658

The article would be better if it actually had full obverse and reverse images. I also found it a bit annoying (or almost comical) that the assumption was that this coin was "the best" without having seen the NGC graded MS69 coin or the 7 graded MS68 by PCGS. The idea of "the best" befuddles me sometimes.



Sadly, this MS68+ coin (at least in that graded holder) doesn't seem to be pictures in CoinFacts.

Boosibri

Great advice:

As a collector, one of the things you should do is educate yourself as much as possible about the series you collect. Focus less on trying to learn what is the difference between an MS67, an MS68, and an MS69, and more on the characteristics which make a coin special for its respective issue. Learn about things like cellophane-style toning on the surfaces of Type Three gold dollars, and why this is a good thing. Most of all, find a visual “look” which appeals to you and try to stick to this as much as possible when you search for coins.

Boosibri

Originally posted by: brg5658

The article would be better if it actually had full obverse and reverse images. I also found it a bit annoying (or almost comical) that the assumption was that this coin was "the best" without having seen the NGC graded MS69 coin or the 7 graded MS68 by PCGS. The idea of "the best" befuddles me sometimes.



Sadly, this MS68+ coin (at least in that graded holder) doesn't seem to be pictures in CoinFacts.

This was written in 2014. Here is a link with the picture.

dwn

asheland

What a looker!

oih82w8

With the change in CoinFacts, I have seen some unbelievable coins, several in MS69 which I have not seen before.



http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/7521



http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/7548



http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/5019



...etc...

BillJones

I'm not all that super impressed with high grade gold dollars from the 1880s. I've been trying to form a collection of them in MS-65, and the grading is all over place now. Years ago a lot of the MS-65 coins were really nice, but of late grade-flation has made the old time MS-65s into more than few cases MS-67s.

These coins often come nice and many of them are Proof-Like. If an MS-68 or 69 has any haze in the field, I'm not impressed . The best of these coins make it difficult to determine if they are Proof or Mint State.

Here is the best one I have, which NGC called MS-67. This was my type set piece until I purchased a Proof. This one has blazing satin luster with virtually no marks.

cardinal

Originally posted by: BillJones
I'm not all that super impressed with high grade gold dollars from the 1880s. I've been trying to form a collection of them in MS-65, and the grading is all over place now. Years ago a lot of the MS-65 coins were really nice, but of late grade-flation has made the old time MS-65s into more than few cases MS-67s.

These coins often come nice and many of them are Proof-Like. If an MS-68 or 69 has any haze in the field, I'm not impressed . The best of these coins make it difficult to determine if they are Proof or Mint State.

Here is the best one I have, which NGC called MS-67. This was my type set piece until I purchased a Proof. This one has blazing satin luster with virtually no marks.

Yes, it seems that gold dollars from the 1880s are rather readily available in high grades. I have but one gold dollar, a first year Type One example, that I find truly captivating:

bidask

roadrunner

Gold is so soft that the gem gold coins often get at least one grade higher than a comparably marked up silver coin of that same era. The highest graded larger gold coin I ever saw was the Eliasberg 1894-s $5 Liberty. It was graded NGC MS69 back around 1989. At the time I thought that was an incredible grade, especially for a date that was rare in choice unc. The coin did have obvious luster grazes on the high points.

steveben

wow. i love all these gold dollars. cardinal...amazing!

Justacommeman

While I'm truly impressed with the subject coin and the coin Cardinal rolled into this thread. Both captivating





mark

mercurydimeguy

I like BillJones 1881 best, in terms of grade. I can't believe that 1884 is in a 68+ holder. There are 66's and 67's that look no worse.



Reminds me of why when I built my Merc registry set no one could talk me into buying a 68FB, cause all of my 67FB's were better than any 68FB. That was the best money saving decision I ever made, and at that time there were less than 30 in all graded 68 FB's. LOL, I wonder how many of the old-school 67's are in 68 holders??



Anyhow, I wouldn't through that 1884 out of my set, but anyone who pays 68+ money for that is buying into something I never bought into...

JJSingleton

Great Wow! coins. Although images are nice, there is nothing more grand in this hobby than seeing these Wow! coins in hand. Congrats to both BillJones and Cardinal on their fine examples.

ricko

It would not look like any in my collection.... Some nice ones here though...Cheers, RickO

golden

Originally posted by: cardinal

Originally posted by: BillJones

Holy crap!!!!!!