I went to a garage sale today and a collector was hawking an 1878-cc trade dollar. Unslabbed. It looked "okay" in terms of authenticity but then again I'm not an expert. My question is, would folks here stay far, far away from a big $$ transaction like that?
Depends on how much you paid or if I knew the person. But the key facgtor for me would be seeing the coin itself. Can you post pics?
I didn't buy the coin but it's likely still for sale. I could ask him if he wouldn't mind if I took a couple pics of the coin. If he says okay, I would post them.
The 1878-CC is the key date among the non-proof Trade Dollars, so the chances of it being fake are high.
I might do a deal like that but only if it's an area of the hobby I know really well. If I don't know it, it's not worth the risk. I walk away from raw gold for this reason.
