So my father's collection has a number of beautiful gold pieces, some graded, some not. But I have to ask, where does a 1908 Double Eagle come from? Has this coin been sold from collector to collector, since 1908? Were there a lot of collectors back in 1908? How did these coins survive the depression unused? When I look at the ungraded eagles, half eagles an double eagles he had, they look just as nice to my amateur eyes as the graded ones. I see in the Red Book where a MS63 Eagle is worth quite a bit more than an ungraded coin, I'm toying with the idea of having a few graded...thoughts?
You need to start doing a lot of homework, studying, so you will have some basic understanding of all of this. Get yourself a book called Coin Collecting For Dummies. Don't be put off by the title or that I am recommending it for you. It's a good book for beginners and will explain a lot. In the meantime, start taking some pictures of your coins and post them here. Then we can try and explain a few things to you. But you won't understand what we explain if you don't get and read that book first.
Good advice Doug. I would answer the OP questions directly. As for where they came from, look around your house. How many coins are lying around in drawers, etc? That is where a lot of minor coins came from that weren't bought by collectors right away. As for gold, a lot of this was saved in bags in banks for their capital requirement. At some point a collector got it, but most gold was used as bank reserves and didn't really circulate, that is why most are in high grade. As for an MS63, grading has nothing to do with it. The COIN is MS63 grade, a slab is simply confirming that. Grading by a third party just takes away most of the argument when it comes to buy or sell what the grade is, it does not affect WHAT the grade is, since the coin has always been that grade. Hope that helps. If you ar going to get into coin collecting, the major points I would say would be: 1. Buy from a reputable dealer 2. Learn how to grade 3. Educate yourself as much as possible. Knowledge is more important than checkbook size in any collectible field. Chris
Most collectible coins have been sitting in banks, sitting with dealers, or have as you say, been passed down by collectors over the ages. Just about every series has its own story as to why some are keys and some are common in high grade. There have been coin collectors since theyve been making them. 1700s stuff was popular in the 1800s, etc. Gold was mostly used by bankers. Especially the $20. The few people that owned any in the 1800s & early 1900s mainly hoarded it. Not much circulated. The majority of people in the early 1900s never would have seen an actual gold piece in circulation or ever owned one from what Ive heard. Getting gold graded is like playing the lottery. If the grade is low, it probably cost you money. If you can get a high grade on one good one, you hit the jack pot. Have heard success stories and horror stories. If something has been cleaned or has altered surfaces, youre looking at melt value for most anything other than something rare.
Oh yeah, post some pics if you can. We'd all like to see some old gold that has been hidden away all these years.
