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Question on an eBay gold coin, will it grade?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1839-O-2-50-Gold-Classic-Head-ANACS-AU50-/400200804098?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item5d2dd3a702


I'm looking for an 1839-o and this one looks reasonable. However, its certification is questionable at best. The plastic it's in is just a flip, so anything could have happened since it was "certified" including switching out the coin.

Additionally, from what I've been told, "in the old days" people didn't care about "cleaning" like they do now.


So, my primary question: Is it cleaned? And will it grade in PCGS?



Thanks in advance for all opinions!

Comments

  • derrybderryb Posts: 37,667 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice type coin for a collector. Pic is too poor for me to determine cleaning. Ask seller if coin being delivered is the same one pictured in the ANACs certification. There's enough chatter on the coin to determine if it is the same coin. You will now have, in ebay messages, confirmation that it is the same coin. If it is not, you will then have grounds for Item Significantly Not As Described claim allowing for a return and a refund. Seller does offer returns on the item.

    No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,848 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The early ANACS was strict with cleaned coins and was quick to put CLEANED on the certificate if so warranted. The problem is that once the certificate is issued, the owner may choose to "improve" the coin since it isn't sealed in a slab and is easily accessible to the owner.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • Buy it and try it. image
  • cameron12xcameron12x Posts: 1,384 ✭✭✭
    If you're not afraid of exercising the seller's return policy, give it a shot.

    Is getting it slabbed important to you?

    It's a one-year type coin from New Orleans. They never used the Classic Head design before or after 1839.

    This is a great piece of history and the coin should stand on its own on that merit alone...


  • << <i>If you're not afraid of exercising the seller's return policy, give it a shot.

    Is getting it slabbed important to you?

    It's a one-year type coin from New Orleans. They never used the Classic Head design before or after 1839.

    This is a great piece of history and the coin should stand on its own on that merit alone... >>



    Yes, certification is important to me.

    It's a lot easier to resell in "slabbed form" and I'm a fan of the "PCGS Registry".
  • <<<<This is a great piece of history and the coin should stand on its own on that merit alone... >>>

    I agree


  • << <i><<<<This is a great piece of history and the coin should stand on its own on that merit alone... >>>

    I agree >>



    And yet somehow PCGS makes millions of dollars per year image


    I wonder how that could be? image
  • cameron12xcameron12x Posts: 1,384 ✭✭✭
    Indeed... PCGS will make millions whether you slab another coin or not. image

    That's a nice looking 1839-O QE in my eyes...

    Are you interested in the other branch mints from that era?
  • PQueuePQueue Posts: 901 ✭✭✭
    Pass...
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,615 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes it's cleaned and no PCGS will not grade it. Although with that said: I like it, in spite of anyone's opinion.
  • HoledandCreativeHoledandCreative Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The coin in the flip looks much better than the enlarged pictures. Maybe you can work out a deal so you can see the coin with full return privileges, offer to pay postage. Also, being the only O mint coin of the type, PCGS might use a little wiggle room to slab it. They don't show up very often.
  • 09sVDB09sVDB Posts: 2,420 ✭✭✭
    It looks OK but personally I would never buy a coin like this on EBay unless it was from a dealer I knew. Just my honest opinion.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,848 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Yes it's cleaned and no PCGS will not grade it. >>



    How did you make this determination from those pics?

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,814 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't buy uncertifed gold any more unless it is cheap, and I like it as well. That's another way of saying I don't buy raw old U.S. gold coins any more.

    For not that much more than that price you should be able to buy a certified coin. Why hastle?

    I would pass. Usually when a coin is raw, it's raw for a reason, and that reason is almost always not to your benefit.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • derrybderryb Posts: 37,667 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Yes, certification is important to me.

    It's a lot easier to resell in "slabbed form" and I'm a fan of the "PCGS Registry". >>


    If certification and resell are important to you then buy only slabbed coins. If your goal is to buy raw, then slab and then profit from the difference you need to first learn self grading and then buy only raw coins that have return policy. Having others for guess you from terrible pictures is not the way to go. Coin in hand is the only way to be sure, but you have to be sure of what you're looking at.

    All you will get here are opinions and if the pictures are bad enough only guesses.

    No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,848 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I don't buy uncertifed gold any more ......... >>



    I think you meant to say "unslabbed" rather than "uncertified" since that coin is most certainly certified.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,814 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I don't buy uncertifed gold any more ......... >>



    I think you meant to say "unslabbed" rather than "uncertified" since that coin is most certainly certified. >>



    These days a coin with ANACS papers is a raw coin.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • cameron12xcameron12x Posts: 1,384 ✭✭✭
    The PCGS price guide suggests $4,000 for this coin in AU-50 condition.
  • TheBigBTheBigB Posts: 942
    image

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