Options
Which would fetch more at auction...Mona Lisa vs the 1000 most valuable US coins?
Coinstartled
Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
In our theoretical, the thousand coins would be auctioned at a rate or 40 per month until they were all sold. Mona would sell in a single brilliant evening at Stacks, with Laura methodically calculating the pre fee number to get Bruce to exactly three billion dollars.
My guess would be Mona winning, by a substantial margin.
10
Comments
Just a guess but I would say
the 1000 most valuable US coins
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
only ONE Mona
That we 'know' of
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
The Mona Lisa would be the ultimate prize for trophy hunting art collectors ... and those kind of trophy hunters really have the money.
The Mona Lisa would win.
Now if the unverified "younger" version of the Mona Lisa were ever verified as a real DaVinci ... who knows what would happen.
Mona Lisa, and the winning margin would not even be close. Go to the Louvre Art Museum---look at the long line inside just to see that one painting. Think that there would be a similar line in the Smithsonian to see the 1000 most valuable U.S. coins? No way.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Smithsonian line would be of a higher caliber.
A bit off topic but....
I've seen the Mona Lisa three times. The last two were in the Louvre in Paris. It had crowds around and was behind some sort of protective glass. It looked like a poster.
The first time I saw it was in the 70s at the Speed art museum in Louisville Kentucky. It was part of a traveling exhibition. This was before we knew that bright lights could damage old masterpieces. I was two feet away. it was fully exposed and there were bright lights shining on the painting. It was absolutely mesmerizing!
I just wanted all those who have seen the Mona Lisa in recent years and who thought "What's all the fuss about?" to know it really is quite special.
Unique and thus top pop, but might details grade, if cleaned.
People pay a hundred million for stuff that looks like something my nephew made in kindergarten.
The Mona Lisa is likely the most iconic artwork in history.
I think she would win.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I prefer Rembrant's "The Night Watch". I wonder what it would bring.
I would speculate that IF the original Mona Lisa were to come to auction, somebody in Japan would buy it, take it to Japan and place it on exhibition at an entrance fee of One Thousand Yen per person, and that 95% of the people in Japan would come to see it. Eventually, such an exhibition would gross a minimum of $1.2 billion dollars USD.
I have been to France five times and seen The Mona Lisa painting on every trip.
I suspect that it would end up in Vegas.
I think the Mona Lisa would easily auction over a billion. The coins wouldn't even come close.
Certain persons in Japan have more money than we Americans can readily dream of.
The Japanese seem to have a vast fantasy about anything French.
The current most expensive painting is Salvator Mundi (also by Leonardo da Vinci), which sold for $450 m in 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings
It seems that Mona Lisa, being much better known, should be worth at least 2x that (min $1 b).
So it might indeed sell for $3 b .
So it would take 1000 x $3 m US coins to equal that, and believe less than 10 US coins have sold for over $3 m .
I believe that less than 1000 US coins have sold for $1 m or more, also.
The coins would win. There are at least 1,000 coins that are worth north of $1,000,000. That would be over a Billion Dollars. I don't think the Mona Lisa would sell for a Billion Dollars.
Back when I learned a little bit about this stuff (forty years ago), there were only three paintings positively attributed to the great Leonardo. The two that I can remember off the top of my head were The Mona Lisa and The Virgin of the Rocks (both in the Louvre).
Everything else is rather more speculative, but hey, art historians gotta eat.
The coins...…..not even close.
Mona Lisa, hands down! How many more people around the world are aware of the Mona Lisa. I saw it at the Louvre and it was a mob scene around the painting. I casually walked up to an 1804 dollar on display at a past ANA and was able to view it by myself as if the coin was a modern Lincoln cent.
Mona Lisa !!!
Tim Cook could buy it for the Apple lobby and their accountants would mistake the cost as a rounding error.
That doesn't really mean anything. How many of those in the mob could afford to buy the Mona Lisa even if it was only 100K?
Philately..... the wave of the future and the "be all, end all" of hobby greatness!
I've seen Mona at the Louvre, I prefer the impressionist paintings at l'Orangerie and Musee d'Orsay, but one has to see the Louvre and Mona could be considered the top item to view and even behind the glass it has 'the look'. I am thinking at least $5 billion minimum if it ever went on the auction block but possibly as much as $20 billion (2000 times the TDN dollar). Not too many individuals could afford it so it would likely be a consortium of several that could make the bid on it and win. I could see the Saudi's, the Dubai's, a Chinese group, the Russians, and a bastion of uber riche (the 0.001%) Americans, South Americans, Euros, having a heated war at the auction that would go down as the greatest show on earth all brought to us by many social media venues live. It would be epic. Which auction house would get the opportunity? Probably a french one.
Alas tho, the french would never let it go nor would the Louvre, it is priceless to them and would seriously damage the Louvre if it left. So the fun won't happen.
Best, SH
What about......
PCGS has done half the work here:
https://www.pcgs.com/million-dollar-coin-club
Somebody add it all up!
Depends... is the Mona Lisa slabbed, graded, and GAC stickered?
PCGS says 245....nowhere near 1,000
“there are 173 (regular issue) specimens that are members of the Million Dollar Coin Club,
There are 38 United States Mint patterns that are members of the PCGS Million Dollar Coin Club.
There are four Territorial Gold coins that are members of the PCGS Million Dollar Coin Club
There are 20 “Early American” coins that are members of the PCGS Million Dollar Coin Club”
Not even close - Lisa.
DaVinci
Wonder which one would be a better investment over the next decade?
It's an impossible question. There is a limit to what anyone will pay for anything. A state entity might buy it just to have it. I don't know that any one individual would pony up multiple billions for one painting. You are letting 1000 different buyers buy the coins. That means none of those buyers need come up with multiple billions.
Probably both would be horrible "investments". In a decade, the price would need to more than double to make it a good investment. It's been 16 years since the 1933 double eagle sold for $6.6 million. To be a "good investment" that coin would have to sell for $20-25 million today. I think you'd be lucky to get more than about half that.
The Mona Lisa is priceless. The bidding might not ever end. I've been going the Louvre twice a year for many years as business takes me there. The viewing for the Mona Lisa as stated by prior posters is astonishing. There is maybe nothing more iconic. Maybe only the Holy Grail itself. 5 billion wouldn't shock me. Nor would 20 billion+ . The coins wouldn't come close
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
The pretty lady wins. A billion is the new million
Hit send too soon The numismatic community would be broke before the 1,000 coins would all be auctioned. The art community is larger and their pockets reach their slim little ankles
You sure about that?
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Painting art and machine struck coins are different animals. Why compare them? If we have to compare them, we only lower coins’ position.
When was the last time you saw coin exhibition in top tier art museum? I did not see once yet. I did see coin exhibitions in history museum.
Good call Boss!
The Mona Lisa would easily exceed a billion
Well this is a coin forum. It would be disingenous to compare the value of the Mona Lisa to vintage Pez Dispensers.
I'll put the Mona Lisa at $2.1 Billion all in.
The top 1000 coins will have trouble bringing half that.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Agreed. Even I would pay that much. That is, if I had the wall space for it.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I’ve seen seen her 4 times, all at the Louvre. The last time my daughter and I waited in line for 30 minutes in the rain & were the first ones in. We rushed right there and spent two or three minutes with her alone before anyone else showed up. That was so cool. Stunning, iconic, as said, but no more moving than several other pieces. At the Louvre my favorites are Winged Victory of Samathrace and the Venus. I also prefer the works in l’Orangerie and Orsay. David, in Florence, has no equal. Truly phenomenal.
Against 1000 coins, sadly the Mona Lisa would probably win.
I am impressed by the number of forum members that have seen the painting not only once, but multiple times.
Been there. Twice
The Mona Lisa would far exceed the coins in price. And there are a few wealthy individuals that could buy it..... However, I firmly believe it will never be on the market. It is a national treasure. Cheers, RickO
Higher caliber? Please.> @BillDugan1959 said:
There are at least ten paintings that are now firmly attributed to Leonardo, including 'Ginevra de Benci' in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His painting 'The Last Supper' is likely the most famous religious painting of all time. Another handful have been attributed on much less firm grounds.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]