Advice Please! I have a 2008-W Proof Gold $50 Buffalo, but ...........

bigole · September 8, 2012 1:22AM

BACKGROUND: I have a buddy who called me Wednesday because he knows I'm interested in coins, and told me he had a one ounce gold Eagle and a one ounce proof gold Buffalo, but he needed to sell them for cash now. He said he was offered spot minus 4% for the eagle and spot minus 2% for the Buffalo, was that a good price? I told him I thought he could do a little better than that, could he wait until I had a chance to look at them and check around some. He said he really HAD to sell one that day, so I told him to sell the Eagle, so I could check out the Buffalo. Well, yesterday he showed me the Buffalo and it's a proof 2008-W $50.

QUESTION: The Buffalo is in an ANACS Slab, graded PR70 DCAM, and the slab says "First Day of Issue" and "xx of 98". What should I advise he do with it? Is it sellable for the best value as it sits? Or should I submit it to PCGS as a Crossover to get a PCGS slab? I'm personally only comfortable with PCGS, I don't have any knowledge of ANACS prices and credibility. What should I advise he do? It's a great coin, I'm just really glad he didn't sell it Wednesday for $1665.

greghansen · September 8, 2012 1:40AM

Yea, its worth around double what he was offered as it is, so he owes you a big hug. You saved him well over a grand. The coin is readily sellable as an ANACS PR70DCAM for maybe 3300-3600 IMO. Crossover risk is high. Don't think PCGS will even look at a 70 crossover still in the slab, so you would have to break out and resubmit which would be a BIG MISTAKE in my opinion, due to the risk of it coming back 69DCAM. Leave it alone and sell it as is. If it has no red spots there are people who will pay up for it. I'll set the floor. I'm not even looking for one of these, but they are always worth 3 grand to me if they have no problems...so take it from there and see how much more you can get on BST. Even if you have to EBAY it, list it at a fixed price (due to its value, you'll pay less fees that way) if it listed and sold for $3,500 you'd pay about $113 in EBAY fees. Just depends on how big of a hurry he is in. The quicker he has to sell, the fewer marketing options you have...but either way...you did him a big favor and gave him some good advice by having him liquidate the Eagle first while you sorted it out.

SlvrandGld · September 8, 2012 1:55AM

Around here they offer spot plus $50 for generic buffalos but since your talking a 2008 proof its worth alot more.

greghansen · September 8, 2012 2:28AM

My comments were based on assumption the OP was talking about the 2008-W $50 Gold Proof which is the key to the series. The other year proofs are spot + a little...but the 08-W Proof is the king of the group and always sells for a significant premium between equally knowledgable buyer/sellers.

derryb · September 8, 2012 2:44AM

Greg is correct.

A buy it now on ebay for $3800, maybe even $4000, should go quickly depending on feedback history of seller. If not in a rush try it at $4250 to start with for 1 day and then gradually lower in 1 day attempts, only costs 50 cents for each listing. The first day of issue label should help compensate for some of the premium loss based on grading company. Buy it now is definitely the way to go to save EB fees.

Recent ebay sales of same coin, none by ANACS

HalfStrike · September 8, 2012 3:00AM

I think that gold buffalo was purchased through HSN as they do the first day of issue. Even at their inflated prices that coin is worth more now than the HSN price paid, one of the few recent coins to achieve that historic threshold.

jmski52 · September 8, 2012 4:18AM

Greg is spot on. That coin will sell easily as is, and any ebay fees are merely incidental. Ebay prices can vary quite a bit, but if your friend wants to gamble, he might be risking a loss of around $300 for a possible gain of $700 or more by resubmitting the raw coin to PCGS.

Either way, you saved him from a significant mistake and he should be quite happy no matter which way he decides to liquidate the coin.

bigole · September 8, 2012 4:44AM

Thanks. Yes, he bought it on HSN. It is spotless and looks flawless to me. I appreciate all the good info.

Advice Please! I have a 2008-W Proof Gold $50 Buffalo, but ...........

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