whoa! a boatload of money for a Buffalo nickel!

Doogy · April 24, 2008 4:15PM

Yikes! I didn't know that these fetched anywhere close to that amount. I read where this is the highest amount paid for a Buffalo nickel, and the first to eclipse 300k.

click here for the completed auction

Placid · April 24, 2008 4:23PM

Finest known. I guess if you wanted to put together the finest known buff collection you would need to be willing to pay for it.

Artist · April 24, 2008 4:32PM

Wow! It looks like its made of solid gold! For that price it ought to be. Hey, what a minute...

droopyd · April 24, 2008 6:48PM

oddly enough, i don't particularly like the look of it based on the photo. i assume it looks much better in hand.

BUFFNIXX · April 24, 2008 10:05PM

Wow, what a bargain!! (I guess if you were bill gates you might think that). Actually if it truely is an ms66 by pcgs standards then the price is not out of line. I can just see this coin getting sent to pcgs for a crossover. If it crosses, then the price gets jacked up a few more tens of thousands of dollars. BUFFNIXX

mr1931S · April 24, 2008 11:23PM

Looks overgraded to me.It's 63 or 64 in my opinion. This particular issue must be unknown in real gem uncirculated condition.

SeattleSlammer · April 25, 2008 12:58AM

that IS a ton of money with the juice

SeattleSlammer · April 25, 2008 12:59AM

Looks overgraded to me.It's 63 or 64 in my opinion

Umm, given the caliber of the auction, it's most likely that the buyer and/or his agent took a real close look at this one and believed it to be a 66.....

koynekwest · April 25, 2008 1:00AM

"and the first to eclipse 300k."

Not so. It may be the first REGULAR issue to top $300,000 but a 1916/16 PCGS MS64 sold for $315,000 less than a year ago.

koynekwest · April 25, 2008 1:13AM

Actually $316,250.00-Nov 2007 Bowers and Merena Baltimore auction; lot 683.

Russ · April 25, 2008 2:41AM

That's a lot more than the $35 I paid for this one:

Russ, NCNE

BUFFNIXX · April 25, 2008 2:52AM

You got a true vf20 for next to nothing? Nice Catch!!!
BUFFNIXX

BUFFNIXX · April 25, 2008 2:53AM

Upon further review (by me) the coin looks like a VF30. BUFFNIXX

Russ · April 25, 2008 3:11AM

<< <i>You got a true vf20 for next to nothing? Nice Catch!!! >>

It's not like I had a clue. I can't grade them worth crap, so I just look for circulated examples that don't have problems. Most of the set I'm working on came from dealer junk boxes. I picked that one up off a bidboard about 2 1/2 years ago.

Russ, NCNE

BUFFNIXX · April 25, 2008 3:48AM

Russ -- you still did well on this. looks like a no problem coin and if you send it to pcgs it should get the vf20 grade. worth 400 bucks then BUFFNIXX

Russ · April 25, 2008 4:02AM

<< <i>and if you send it to pcgs it should get the vf20 grade. >>

I posted a thread about it a while back and, based on the responses, I decided I am going to submit it. Just need to find a lower grade example that I like first.

Russ, NCNE

keets · April 25, 2008 4:43AM

the really amazing thing about the subject coin, if known, would be the circumstances surrounding it's survival in such pristine condition. almost certainly it was pulled back without any knowledge of the low mintage and potential appreciation during the next 80 years, a fact that drives collectors like us crazy!!!

Elcontador · April 25, 2008 4:44AM

Russ, if the 26 S is treated like the 24 S, I wouldn't submit the coin. You're not going to get VF money for a 24 S unless it has a no-questions full horn. I imagine the same is true here. I had a 24 S which looked marginally better than your coin and was in a similar situation.

mr1931S · April 25, 2008 6:10AM

...The present Gem, however, is not affected by bothersome lack of detail. The reverse die appears to have been relatively fresh when this coin was struck, and the overall definition on that side is sufficiently bold and well above average by the standards of the issue.

It seems to me that to make MS66 and be worth over $300K, those details should be much more well-defined than they are.

the buyer and/or his agent took a real close look at this one and believed it to be a 66.....

They took a real close look and ponied up the money. End of story.

clackamas · April 25, 2008 2:48PM

it would be nice to find a roll of those.

cape · April 27, 2008 6:04AM

I feel the coin is totally there for a mint state 66. What most collectors in this series don't understand is that each date and mint marked coins are all struck differently from each other.

yellowjacket · April 27, 2008 7:07AM

You're so right! Just look at Ron Pope's extensive research on Buffalo strikes by date and MM.

Garrow

koynekwest · April 28, 2008 2:14AM

This is one of those dates that's often found struck from the very eroded dies that dominate many of the dates from the late 'teens, '20's, and a few from the '30's. This, more than the actual strike keeps most from grading any higher than MS62 or MS63. There are several other dates than the '26-S that are as bad as or worse in this regard.

BUFFNIXX · April 28, 2008 2:52AM

Got a nice VF30 26-s for $35 in the early sixties, oh those were the days.

whoa! a boatload of money for a Buffalo nickel!

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