Would like to know grade & worth of this 1904 Liberty Head Double Eagle $20

Hello,

Can you help me determine the grade and worth of this 1 oz. 1904 Liberty Head Double Eagle $20? I am being told by a family member that it is worth the weight in gold (obviously) + $200 numismatic value - yet he is not a coin collector or professional.

I would also like to know if said value is what I can easily sell it for at one of my local coin dealers. Or do coin dealers pay under the value so they can make a profit?

A "no less than" number would be helpful. Thank you very much.

NOTE: These pictures can be zoomed in quite a bit if you click on them. You really need to look at all of them in full zoom to get a feel for the condition as some shots make the coin look better than it is.

Here are pictures:

http://photobucket.com/RYANR

 

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Well you probably just lowered the value a good amount by holding it like that

 

I didn't know the holding it gently and with care would be a problem. Why and how would holding it like this lower the value?

 

Looks possibly wiped, I'd put it a AU58, which retail is about 2k, a dealer would probably offer 1600. That is dependent upon it been real and not cleaned.

 

fingerprints and wear always hold a coin by the edges

 

You should only hold it by its rim, by touching the face of the coin the oils in your hands will react with the gold and leave nasty finger prints significantly lowering its value....

 

Beat me to it!!!!

 

oy vey! Okay, I won't do that again. Is there something I should do now to the coin? Can it be cleaned?

 

Thank you. That price is less than the current gold value. I assumed I could at least get the current gold value. ?

 

The coin is not an ounce. It's .9675 of an ounce of pure gold. It has roughly $1,570 worth of gold in it.

It's a coin I would sell in the shop for $1,725 and pay $1,600 for.

 

Gold value is $1569.76 at present time. They are not 100% gold and not a full ounce

http://www.coinflation.com/gold_coin_values.html

 

Okay, I was making a few errors. I thought it had an entire oz of gold in it, and the additional weight was another metals. It weighs 33 grams. I was going off the standard gold rate as opposed to the coin rate. So $1600 is the bottom line - that's lower than I had thought - but fair. Thank you guys.

 

Also in case you were concerned with the handling, gold is different from silver and copper coins, which are much more chemically reactive. True, one shouldn't develop bad habits, and if you had been doing this to a copper or silver coin, I would have mentioned it also. Gold is not near the worry of damage from handling as long as you don't drop it.

If you wish to be sure, hold by the edge and drip some pure acetone from walmart or Home Depot across it and let it air dry before releasing it ( few minutes) or even 91% isopropyl alcohol the same way., but no need to do this really, IMO.

Welcome to the forum!

Jim

 

I got $1575 for it. LostDutchman here on this thread, whom I presume is a dealer, said "It's a coin I would sell in the shop for $1,725 and pay $1,600 for."

I tried to push for $1600. In fact, I even walked out over the $25 difference. But then came back after a while and accepted the offer.

I am satisfied, but slightly skeptical. Mostly, because I trust a dealer like LostDutchman who tells me upfront what he can sell it for. That is honesty and I honor that. When I asked this dealer to shoot straight with me about what he could sell it for. We wouldn't budge. He told me that he probably wouldn't not be able to sell it in the current market. Maybe he was being honest. It just didn't feel honest.

After the transaction was complete, something that I found odd occurred. Maybe you all can comment on it. The dealer pulled out a clear plastic cylinder FULL of 1oz double eagle coins - probably 40 of them staked on top of each other, without anything protecting them. He pulled my 1904 coin out of it's protective case and just dropped in on top of the stack and snapped the container shut. All I could see for certain was the top coin, and it was a much newer, very shinny and pretty double eagle. I was surprised that it was not important to him to protect at least mine which was much older than the others - let alone protect the others as well. They were literally stacked like a quarter roll. Was this just some sort of show to make me feel like my coin was insignificant - to make me feel better about the sale? The guy and his staff seemed trustworthy and my intuition told me they were okay folks despite the fact that they wouldn't talk to me about what they would sell it for. But I just don't know for sure. I'm moving on, just thought I would share here how it ended.

 

Thank you. I appreciate the clarification and feel good about the transaction now.