Hypothetical: newly discovered hoards
rhedden
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Hypothetical: You inherit a box of silver dimes from your poor deceased uncle from Nevada, who knew a little about coins and a lot about gambling. To your delight, the accumulation of old dimes turns out to be an astounding hoard of a formerly rare date (say 1874-cc, for argument's sake): 500 pieces total in every grade from AG to MS63, that was put away prior to 1900. It's unknown to the numismatic community. The question at hand is, how would you choose to sell off your newfound hoard, knowing that the market price will "crater" once 500 of them are released? Would it be unethical to auction them off quietly, one at a time, using an auction house as a front, thus burying the first few buyers up to their necks? Assume you can keep the nicest one for yourself and wish to sell the rest.
This Hypothetical may seem silly, but consider that it has happened before (e.g., Treasury release of BU 1903-O Morgan Dollars turned a major rarity into a common date almost overnight). We all assume a risk when investing in rare coins; it is (remotely) possible that a hoard could turn up at any time and obliterate our investments.
Apologies in advance if we have had a similar thread previously that I did not read.
This Hypothetical may seem silly, but consider that it has happened before (e.g., Treasury release of BU 1903-O Morgan Dollars turned a major rarity into a common date almost overnight). We all assume a risk when investing in rare coins; it is (remotely) possible that a hoard could turn up at any time and obliterate our investments.
Apologies in advance if we have had a similar thread previously that I did not read.
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rainbowroosie April 1, 2003
Those were unloaded VERY quickly to dealers. But with an 1874-CC, I'd say a once-per-month sale to a
dealer, collector, consignment, etc could net you the most gain! Sometimes use a middle-man to disguise
the consistency of one person selling those and becomming more and more recognizable! 500 would be
a lot to disperse, but hitting different markets across the country, and doing so slowly could be the most
profitable
The market won't tank. It may even rise after awhile with more examples trading hands.
Nice evil plan. Then you will have three dime collectors out there who want you dead. I assume you're not a dealer who needs to protect his reputation? Those dime collectors are a rough bunch.
The existence of the hoard of 1844 dimes was widely acknowledged prior to its release. There was no secrecy there at all.
Edited to add: we're talking about potentially burying someone in a $50,000 coin that is worth $500 after you sell your hoard off.
I'd fully document the group and the highest graded ones go to auction with nice pictures of the pile and a writeup
<< <i>Hypothetical: newly discovered hoards >>
What..!!..Next thing your gonna tell me is they found a Great Hoard of SBA Dollars...!!!
Less than 150 are currently graded by PCGS and NGC out of a mintage of over 3,000,000.
However, there are still some unopened and/or unsearched 1961 proof sets out there which may contain examples of these half dollars. I know this to be true because I lucked out and scored one of these half dollars about three weeks ago when I bought 3 1961 proof sets in OGP and discovered that one of them had the valuable DDR half in it.
<< <i>
<< <i>Hypothetical: newly discovered hoards >>
What..!!..Next thing your gonna tell me is they found a Great Hoard of SBA Dollars...!!! >>
Or Ikes!
Eric
I'd think the necessary certification of something truly noteworthy would send ripples prior to disbursal.
Who'd believe the authenticity on eBay of just one raw example?
Delicate thing these hoards.
I purchased a bag of 1887 morgans and majority were 1887/6 it took 2.5 years to disperse the hoard.
I also picked up a roll of gem of 1945-S micro S dimes. Im sitting on them for now.
My quarter key date hoard is coming along nicely.
<< <i>there are still some unopened and/or unsearched 1961 proof sets out there which may contain examples of these half dollars. >>
I've got 2 and have never checked then for a DDR. I'll do that directly.
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
And it STILL probably would not cause a drop.