To grade my Liberty Head $20 or not?
burghman
Posts: 1,104 ✭✭✭✭
New to the coin forum and coins in general, so I hope I’m using the right forum for this question...
I’ve spent much of the past few days going through a coin accumulation that I inherited and will be looking to largely liquidate. Lots of good old stuff but very little of it in any kind of gradeable condition, with one exception:
In looking her up, the lowest graded coin has a value of $1350 while a 58 is just $30 more. A grade of 64 bumps the value up to nearly $1700 while a 65 takes it up to $3800+.
I realize these are just estimates and not necessarily actuals, but I’m wondering... do you experts think I should send this in for grading to try to authenticate or maximize value? I don’t know how rampant forgeries for this coin are, so I’d definitely want to grade it if that’s of great concern to buyers. If not, then it seems like the cost of shipping, insurance, grading, etc. may only be worth it if I get that 65 grade but I don’t know what to expect. It seems like it’s possible to my extremely untrained eye but I know next to nothing - she does have some darker splotches on either side that could prevent that high of a grade.
Thanks for the help!
Jim
Best Answers
-
Options
Paradisefound
Posts: 8,623 ✭✭✭✭✭
She looks very nice...MS63 IMO. May we see the close up picture?
6 -
Options
Smudge
Posts: 10,019 ✭✭✭✭✭
I don't see a 65 there. You can send it to be sure it isn't fake, but you will pay and have to wait. I see your dilemma. Many here have more expertise than I do. They will Wade in soon. Take your time for the best price, or just hang onto it. I would.
6
Answers
Nice I wish I had some money. I have to pay the IRS first.
Thanks for the responses
After reading through the recent thread on Great Southern Coins, I think grading is the way to go... I’m no dealer, but I definitely want to present the coin honestly when it comes time to sell, and that situation just seems like a nightmare.
I tried a close-up but I can’t get anything better than the prior shots with the limited equipment I have on hand.
Jim
Thanks @Paradisefound - that’s definitely a better looking coin so the 63 seems like my ceiling indeed.
Jim
Thanks, just learned something. The second 0 in the date looked off, but looking at Photograde I saw that's how they were. 2 1900's on there. Dates look like yours.
It's a pretty coin.
Good luck if you try to grade it.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
If it will only 63 or borderline 64, it's probably not worth grading. 63 common dates are trading as little more than bullion. You will not likely get more for a holdered coin than a raw coin UNLESS you are trying to sell it privately on eBay or BST where many would not touch a raw coin. Any (reputable) dealer will buy it as bullion.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I'm really surprised that people think this coin is going to grade even MS63. Look at it compared to the 64+ posted. I don't know if it's the lighting or the angle or my eyes failing me, but the 64+ looks like 5 grades higher this one. If this grades MS64, I'll eat a raw double eagle. Ok that's probably unhealthy and would break my teeth, but you get the idea.
If it was me, I would sell it raw. Maybe you get a little less. But if you submit it for grading you may not increase it's value enough to cover the costs associated with grading. And not to mention it could take weeks or months.
Successful transactions with: wondercoin, Tetromibi, PerryHall, PlatinumDuck, JohnMaben/Pegasus Coin & Jewelry, CoinFlip, coinlieutenant, bigjpst, and joebb21.
Based on your images, do not bother with grading it. This is a common date that needs to grade 65 to justify certification as noted above. It's a not a 65 but is a valuable $20 gold piece with a metal value of nearly all the money here.
Good luck !!!
I agree with the above evaluations... The only value in sending it in for grading will be the authentication... That is important of course. Selling raw gold can be tough, and likely reduce the price a bit.... about as much as it would cost to have it slabbed - roughly. You might try the BST with better pictures... no fees. Cheers, RickO
If it was mine, and since you inherited it and are new to coins, I would send it in to get slabbed and authenticated. This will give you a wider audience in which to sell it.
Agreed, OP's coin doesn't look MS to me I'd put it around AU53-AU55.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
Retiring at 55, what day is today?
Thanks to all for the input - just goes to show how complex coin grading is, especially to a rookie like me. I used Photograde to try to make an educated guess, and it looks to me like the MS63 there has a horrendous ding in the SE so I figured mine would beat that. However, I know after reading more about it that higher end AUs can sometimes be more eye appealing than lower MSs. Coming from a (limited) sports memorabilia background, the concept of uncirculated, mint, proof, etc. doesn’t translate.
I’m still considering grading it to open up options for selling - if I spring for a membership level with grading vouchers, are there any limitations on the value of the coins that I use the vouchers on? The PSA side has limits on the value of cards that members can use vouchers on - wasn’t sure if PCGS was the same with coins... Thanks!
Jim
1). Even if in AU, authentication is worthwhile; cost should equal value added in liquidation.
2). It would be interesting to see some of the rest of what you inherited; check with your tax specialists, but costs (such as grading) may be deductible from whatever you must report to the tax authorities.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
@BlindedByEgo - thanks for the inquiry. Unfortunately:
1) The coins are hours away with another family member and I haven’t yet determined how to get them back home with me. I’m with them this weekend, but limited in what I can do.
2) The majority of the coins are in really rough shape - lots are literally ungradeable because of missing dates and most others are in such bad shape that grading wouldn’t make sense.
3) I think it’s probably considered a small collection - here are some possible “highlights” (sorry they’re sideways and low quality...)
Jim
Fair enough. Good luck with the collection and I hope that you get good feelings out of being its' caretaker. If you come across anything else that seems interesting, I hope you will feel free to post it here.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
@BlindedByEgo Thanks, I sure will. I won’t be able to get any new pics for awhile, but here’s a list of the types of coins in the collection - like I said above, many of these are really rough and, if in decent condition, didn’t seem to be worth the grading cost. However, I would love to hear from you or others that may know of some of these that have value (beyond just the melt value) even in average condition or worse.
I’d like to maximize the value of the collection and would prefer to sell them as coins and not just as silver. But I realize that the condition of most will probably lead to them only being worth their silver value... And I also realize it’s tough to make judgements or recommendations without pics so I’m not expecting a lot of specific feedback to my list above.
I seem to have a reputable coin dealer in my area - New England Coin Exchange - so if all else fails and I get a good vibe from them, I have that option available to me. There’s a place in MA that’s on PCGS’s list for folks looking to sell collections as a backup option. But, if it makes more sense to split some of these out and grade/sell them individually then I’m willing to put in the work to do that.
(This is very off-topic at this point so I may repost this and more info in the future under a specific thread asking for this kind of advice - folks uninterested in gold that could have valuable opinions may never see this in the current thread...)
Jim