Thread: 1/10 gold piece

I just bought 3 1/10 ouce gold pieces (1996) for 30 dollars a piece, all graded ms-65 except for one which is ms-64, due to a small scratch by the previous owner and a very evil staple...I have a 2004 price guide that shows they are worth 80 dollars a piece, but when I look in some of my recent magazines, it shows 56 dollars for uncirculated pieces, either way it was a very good buy, but, in the magazines, is unc considered ms-65, or are they giving me the low end unc prices for a ms-60 ? Anyones feedback would be much appreciated...Thank you.

You bought them for under melt!!! Let me know if there are more -- I'll take 100 of them!!

Yea, as rbm86 said you got a good deal just considering the value of gold. Which company graded them, by the way? And yea, I'll take as many of those gold coins below melt as they have. lol

BTW, I use http://www.kitco.com when I want to check bullion pricing. Gold is just under $400 an ounce at the moment. You should be able to figure out whether you've made a good deal with that info.

Sorry guys, I bought the guys last three, I doubt I will have another chance like this, but of course, when I was looking at them, he told me I could buy them for what he paid for them, obviously some guy ordered a roll of them, and didn't have enough for the whole roll after it was said and done, which left those three I purchased, two for me and one for step-dad. But I may be able to get my hands on more like that, if possible I will, and let anyone who wants some ( only a couple ) As long as they pay shipping plus the 30 dollars...I didn't just do good on the gold pieces, I bought an 1833 bust 50 cent piece from him for 20 dollars, and just from my own opinion and a respected buddy of mine, it is in extra fine condition, I see 50 cent pieces goin for 50 dollars that are in good condition. Also bought a 1907 O barber dime for 4 dollars in fine condition, I mean, this coin is oh so amazing, it seems too shiny though....For a circulated coin, unless it was put in a 2x2 way back in the day, before it got exposed to too much weather, overall, I had a very very good day, I plan on going back very soon. As for who graded them, it wasn't a proffesional service, unless it's a gold piece, or a proof, or merc, I don't usually send anything else off, me and a group of 3 buddies usually get together and grade them, usually coming to a midway point between grades on coins , alot better and more comfortable than waiting for a commen coin to be graded...

Darn it...I was ready to order 500 of them and put them on ebay starting at $45 each!

I wonder if I could get 1 oz gold piece from him for under melt, it would be very nice, but, unlikely

Until a few months ago it wasn't that hard to buy gold under melt. You just had to know what gold to look for

Now that may sound kinda funny - but it's not really. It was actually rather easy. The gold you had to look for was in the form of world gold coins or low graded modern US commems. You see, they are not terribly popular among many collectors. So it was not difficult to find them on ebay selling for less than melt value.

Unfortunately - I made the mistake of telling a few friends about this. Well it's not so easy to find them now

I've found that the premiums on several European gold coins are often lower than the premiums on gold eagles, which I find interesting, since the European coins have a much bigger historical value than the modern bullion coins.
A few months ago I bought several one ounce silver bars under melt. Silver was at eight dollars an ounce, but I bought them for seven dollars.

I've always found it very hard to buy bullion on eBay for a good price. There are too many bidders, and the shipping almost always makes the bar or coin a bad deal. I've seen plenty of times when people would bid on bars with the total price being nine or ten dollars an ounce when the spot price of silver would be only six dollars an ounce. There have also been cases of people buying the recent silver eagles for eleven or twelve dollars.

Originally Posted by Pennycase

I... all graded ms-65 except for one which ....

I take it from the subsequent posts that this "MS-65" grade is your own opinion, or perhaps also that of the seller, rather than of a qualified third party. I am sure that they are nice coins. Gold uncirculateds are indeed pretty! Numbers from 60 to 70 can be difficult to attach objectively.

Originally Posted by Pennycase

... I have a 2004 price guide that shows they are worth 80 dollars a piece, but ... .

The only price that counts is the one you pay right now. Anything else is an opinion out of synchronicity, either from the past (history) or future (speculation). Several factors collide to make price guides as "objective" as possible (if that _is_ possible for _any_ of them). If the prices are too low or too high people who depend on the guide give the editors direct feedback to bring the prices back into line. On the other hand, those same people try to manipulate quoted prices to get their own immediate good buys/good sells. They give the editors false information to achieve that. So, editors use judgement. Being editors, they are neither buyers nor sellers. That brings it back to you at the counter. The price you paid was the right one.

Originally Posted by Pennycase

... is unc considered ms-65, or are they giving me the low end unc prices for a ms-60 ?

Yes, the grade "Unc" means the low end: MS-60. It also means a PROBLEM-FREE example, sight-seen. One way that collectors sidetrack their goals is by buying coins that have problems. You mentioned the one that would have been an MS-65, but for a staple scratch. Many collectors would accept that at a lower price, but the coin has a problem and cannot be sold for the arguable grade. If resold, the next buyer will downgrade it even further -- unless the next buyer is gullible.

In other words, in the case of the Bust Half you mentioned down a few posts in this thread, if the coin were a Very Fine, in details, but had rimnicks, scratches, bad cleaning, etc., a dealer might get rid of it for the Good price. Many collectors think of this as a "bargain." It is not.

Always buy the best you can afford, problem free, after you have inspected it -- and if you have any questions, get a second opinion. That applies to coins, Pez dispensers, whatever.

Originally Posted by Pennycase

... an 1833 bust 50 cent piece from him for 20 dollars ... a 1907 O barber dime for 4 dollars in fine condition...

I am sure that you can accept it as an axiom that the dealer did not lose money on the transactions. You certainly do, I hope, grant the dealer his profits, large or small, as he can find them. Yet, you enjoyed bargains that seem to be below "market price." How can that be?

(1) The dealer paid the last collector much less than "market price." So, remember that when you decide to sell.

(2) "Market prices" do not come from price guides.

Either or both (1) or (2) will be true... unless there are some other "truths" to be considered... Is the dealer using these loss leaders to bring you in for more purchases? (This is extremely unlikely, but I offer it as an example of "what else" could account for your apparent good fortune.) The dealer wants to marry your sister... (Whoa!) Well, okay... but the point is that the only way to get around the basic facts of marketing is to seek some non-market factors. Without a spare sister or whatever, you have to accept either or both of the first two choices.

I take it from the subsequent posts that this "MS-65" grade is your own opinion

That's what the people at grading services give is just that "opinions", they are just opinions that they actually get paid to make, and can stick a coin in a plastic container, slap a sticker on it and it be justified, take it out of the graded case, and stick into a 2x2, does that make the grade any differant? Surely most out there aren't considering the (grading services) plastic containers as an actual collectible item, and giving it the reason for the coin being even more valuable, it's not. And as I said in my posts, me and a group of friends, which is basically the same thing as an employee of (whichever grading service) Grading the coin something, then it goes to maybe a second, then finally the president of the company, except me and my friends aren't getting paid to do it, who is to say that we have any less experience than someone at a grading service.

As far as these so called nicks, scratches and bad cleaning, I don't know if you were questioning my judgement on how I graded my bust 50 c piece or what, but, as you all will come to soon find out, if there is certain problems with a coin I buy, I usually explain it the way I write down on my little 2x2, I will say again a very fine coin indeed, anybody think otherwise? They can wait till I die to have it .

One more thing commenting towards the last posts: I'm a coin collector, not an invester, there is a major differance, as I said before on my 50 c piece and anything else in my collection, what is in my collection, will stay in my collection, and they can have it when I die.