Please help with Double Eagle question

I have previously bought AGE and ASE. I set aside monthly money. I am not purchasing from a collector's mind set but I have recently decided to shift from modern to pre-1933 with the hope to benefit from spot price move plus the added numismatic element.

I am assuming common date coins would be my path for both budget and lack of knowledge with key dates.

What I need help with is how to determine the best purchase when it comes to "date" and "grade"

I think that I will be looking in the MS63 to MS65 range.

Is a higher grade more common date OR
less common date lower grade better?

I want to keep it simple and would look at Double Eagles for Gold and Morgans for Silver.

Any suggested dates and grades for both of these series?

Thank you for any input or websites to turn to.

 

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Do you prefer St. Gauden's or Liberty Head?

If you are just buying for bullion, common date 61-63 Liberty Heads are going to be your best bet - they don't have a significant numismatic premium, are widely available, and mostly trade based on spot prices. Something like the 1904 is going to be the most common, by far.

 

I would prefer St. Gauden's

Do you recommend a specific date or dates and grade. Where the premium starts to swing up enough that you should have coin knowledge before buying

 

There's currently almost no premium for Saints up to MS64, and MS65 is not much more than those. There are plenty out there in both grades for 1924-28 such that you'll be able to cherrypick for quality.

 

Would you suggest one of the coin auction sites where I know my date or something like an apmex or provident where you can get it immediately but don't know date. My first thought is the auction site but how do I have buyer protection knowing its a legit slab?

 

I would prefer to look at a bunch of coins in person and pick the nicest one. If you go sight-unseen and take "whatever" from somewhere, I'd think you'd probably get a low-end coin. The problem is that since these are priced so close to bullion and have small margins, they won't often show up in auctions where there's a large house cut involved.

 

Are there any sites that have their individual coins posted rather than "date of our choice"?

 

St gaudens 08 no motto and the 24-27 Philadelphia can be bought in 64-65 for not a big premium and the eye appeal killer. Look for well struck examples. Low ms type 3 libertys not a bad buy if you prefer them. If you just want to stack heavy gold the liberty $20 in circulated grades a good buy

 

Personally I'd look on the big auctions stacks and ha. A lot of times they'll run them no reserve as they know they'll be bid to melt or wholesale. Then pick and choose coins with good strikes and eye appeal

 

I echo the comments about choosing the coin you want rather than letting them (seller)choose.

I think the first thing to do is buy a reference book on the Double Eagles. Visit the large auction houses and browse through current listings and also the past auction archives. Get a feel for the coin/grade. The book will help identify which year/mm might be best suited for your purchase.

 

Hi West...I was in the same spot you were in only a bit over a year ago. I had been buying bullion coins for years, never had the slightest inkling in classic gold, and then the bug hit me.

It's very easy to determine the common years that will sell for a small premium over gold bullion in MS-63 and lower. Just check a Red Book or any other pricing guide and see how the price drops as you go into the low-60's and below on the grade.

That was my strategy. I have a few Saints and they are all MS-65 (you can see one from my avatar, the 1st one I bought). Remember, the premium goes up as you move from MS-63 to MS-65 and then it goes PARABOLIC as you go to MS-66 and MS-67, and that's for the commonest commons, let alone any even moderately hard coin.

You say potato......LOL

It's your money and your choice. Generally, my preference has been to go with QUALITY as you may find it easier to sell a common in MS-65 or higher than a harder-to-get Saint in MS-62. Many harder-to-get coins have as their main buyers serious collectors...and many have plenty of $$$...and so, they tend to go up a few notches in quality. Not true of all buyers, but at the extreme, if you told me you wanted to spend $3,000 on a Saint-Gaudens and could buy an MS-67 common year or an MS-62 or even an AU for a much rarer mint/date, I'd choose the former.

At least INITIALLY....down the road, I might go for the rarer coin/lower grade. I'm not there yet myself.

It's like I'm replying back to myself...my strategy, again. Since I am not working FT right now, I have added a few Morgans while awaiting more $$$ for Saints.

Good advice above.....also check out the 1914-S which is a nice coin. The 1915-S and 1916-S are also nice, the latter being the last one until 1920 as production stopped once World War One heated up.

 

I would check a local coin dealer or attend a show.

The other posts are right: read up on the Saint-Gaudens (online stuff + books)....the Bowers and Akers books are indispensable....check auctions on Ebay too (but just watch for now.....).

Whatever you do, don't rush into it. I researched for a few months before making a purchase and did plenty of research. And this assumes you are buying a graded coin...if you ever decide to buy raw/ungraded, you need to be MUCH MUCH MORE careful and wary.

 

The sites saying "our choice" are basically selling you 1 oz. of gold bullion that happens to be in a lower-quality Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. If it's a coins with some appeal/quality or if they have some of them graded, they will price accordingly. Some of these bigger online places like Monex, Blanchard, Apmex, and MCM have dozens of the common years available and they'll just choose any particular common or any particular grade you purchases if they let you choose the year.

Check online sites, dealers, and Ebay stores/auctions to see more specific varieties.

 

Why not post them here, maybe have someone create a sticky thread if they are useful to the Board ?

 

My choice would be Libs in 61-62 or Saints in 63-64. Seems like you are more of a stacker than collector. RARCOA and HJB ltd always have a bunch in stock with individual pictures.

 

You don't want to 'pay up' for another 1-2 grades for each coin ?

The pricing doesn't really go parabolic unless you go up 2-4 notches.