Hey folks! I have historically not been a big collector, but was thinking about getting into it a little bit. I like coins that give me a good ol' fashioned Americana feeling. To start off, I was hoping for some help on a couple specifics. Not too long ago, I had a number of items stolen that I would like to replace. The easiest of which was a basic 1983 US proof set. It looks like I can get these all over the place, and they are not very expensive, but it's tough to tell who is and is not OK to buy from. I make sure I am choosing a reputable place. It is very hard to sift through the threads here and find a reputable seller that also has the stock. Can anyone make a suggestion? I realize this is a very newbie question. :\ Next was a 2002 "American Silver Eagle" coin (actually I had two given as gifts). It was just a regular one, not a proof, I believe, but it came in a special gift box. I have found only one place that seems to be selling this coin in this same box, called Liberty Coin (they have a website and ebay store) but cannot find any information on reputability. Everyone else seems to be selling them in plastic cases/slabs or standard-issue boxes. As far as I can tell, any that come in the box are not "graded." Am I being too weird about getting the same box? Lastly was a gift I received from my Aunt and Uncle when I was a kid.. an 1883 Morgan silver dollar coin. It was in one of those little cardboard squares. I never had it appraised or graded, but it was in average to good condition I would say. I'd love to replace that, and then have them sign the new case for me. But again, finding both a reputable seller and in-stock item is challenging. eBay seems like a disaster waiting to happen, with forgeries, coins cleaned improperly, inflated/bad pricing, etc. Looking for any advise you might have for a newbie, and some specifics on the above if you can. Thank you!!! Hopefully once I get a good idea of a place, or a few places, to shop, I can start picking up some other items that are of interest to me. Thank you all very much!!! -TaterTots
If your talking about Liberty Coins in Lansing Michigan. I will vouch for them.. I know the owner and he is a really nice guy. You might want to call them, I bet they would have all your looking for and save yourself alot of shipping charges.
Ebay isn't the worst option for you. Most people on here use ebay sold prices as a price guide. Also the items your looking for (with the possible exception of the 1883 dollar) are not commonly fake and it is very easy to tell a fake from the real thing. If you need any help post the auction link here and I'm sure plenty of people would be willing to help.
The Liberty coin looks like it is based out of California: http://www.libertycoin.com/contactus_a/83.htm That's their main site. Their ebay site is http://stores.ebay.com/Liberty-Coin-Galleries?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 (Hope it's ok to post links to retailers... wasn't sure... eek!)
Ok, I won't rule out ebay. I'll post if I find something interesting for some more trained folks to look over.
I did that once and then discovered I had hidden them so well I had hidden them from myself ... LOL. There is a Liberty coin in Florida as well. I guess it's a popular name. But don't give up on eBay. Many of us also sell on eBay.
Chris--I took a look, but they didn't have the 1883 listed. Thanks for the recommendation, though! Is "APMEX" any good? They seem to come up in a lot of search results and have a large selection.
Me personally I like to buy already graded coins for some of the reasons you mentioned about buying on ebay. A lot of people on here can spot those fakes and counterfeits or cleaned, me not so much so I stick with pcgs and ngc coins that have already been graded. And depending on your budget I seen some nice 1883 morgans graded on ebay.
Ebay can be wonderful for a more experienced collector. However, if you aren't familiar with the basics, like how to spot harshly cleaned coins, adjectival and numerical grading, etc, you can easily get burned. One way I got into collecting was reading a coin collecting book. There's plenty out there. I'd start with that and see how interesting it is. If you get through the book, I'm pretty sure you'll be pleasantly surprised
Yes, APMEX (American Precious Metals Exchange) is a reputable firm. The 1883 Morgan should be relatively easy to find since there were 12.29 million struck. The optimal collecting grade is MS65 which means that the prime focal areas will be free of any nicks and dings. I'm curious about the 2002 SAE that you mentioned. For that year, there were only two types of this bullion coin produced - the proof and the uncirculated. However, only the proof came in a presentation case with a COA from the Mint similar to the 1986 shown below. If your uncirculated coin was in a presentation case of some sort, then it was supplied by someone other than the Mint. In any event, if you want to search eBay for specimens of these coins, I recommend that you confine your searches to those certified by either NGC or PCGS. There are just too many unethical sellers who offer raw coins and are willing to take advantage of the "untrained eye". Chris
If the ASE wasn't a proof, it was probably inserted into a Whitman/Harris plastic holder with some sort of theme on it I'm guessing. Something like this (courtesy of Amazon):
The mint has also sold cases for ASE's for a long time that are different from the proof cases. I thought they used to sell them individually but now they list them in cases of 100. Although these aren't exactly hard to find on Ebay, etc.
Yes, like Blissskr shows, they came in the smaller gift case like that.. more square than rectangular like the usual ones. I received them as gifts, so maybe they were marketed as a gift set. There was a cardboard sleeve that went around the velvety case also. I still have one of the cardboards. They came from two separate, fairly well-to-do families, so I am fairly sure they would have been purchased from a highly regular source, most like the Mint. I was thinking it looked more like this case than that one, though: It was darker in color, and I'm pretty sure had that emblem on the inside. However, this is shown with an exterior box as well, and I don't think mine had that.. just the velvet case and the cardboard sleeve. I think maybe I am putting too much effort in trying to replace the exact gift that was given to me, though. Maybe instead, I should forget the box and just worry about a nice, high-quality ASE. I guess I haven't decided. :\
Did a little internet digging and found this: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=130195 I believe this is the exact setup (same case and sleeve) my ASEs had... although mine were for 2002, not 1991.
