Super nice first gold coin, you did really well! Here's my only New Orleans, little guy 1849 but I like it!
After my first purchase of a gold coin my wifey said, "you weren't as excited about our firstborn ! Don't you think he's more precious?" Welllllll............
It’s intoxicating. I went to the FUN St Gaudens educational seminar on Saturday. After leaving there, wanted to buy (another) St Gaudens! Fortunately I had already spent my money and the gf wasn’t too happy about going back on the floor.
That is true. I started my stash in the 1990’s. And at that time $400.00 gold may as well have been four million dollar gold for me. I was a poor working man with hungry kids. Still managed to grab a piece or two here there and yonder. Religiously carried them to the bank deposit box over the years. Hadn’t been there in a few years but went last week to pull a pice to carry to sell at FUN for walking around money as well as add a few pieces that had been in my safe. I was surprised that I almost couldn’t close the SBD. A good problem to have but it represents a lifetime’s purchases…. Slow, one or two at a time and it really adds up over the course of thirty years. If I can do it, anyone can.
You're right, it can be done. I've done similar but not with gold. If the interest is always there and a willingness to sacrifice a bit you can accumulate a great collection over time. You have a nice haul there. Bruce
What a wonderful purchase and...you really gone and done it NOW! Nothing says "my precious" like gold and welcome to your new addiction and obsession. One at a time, here and there (for me started ~ 2010) and before you know it you have binders full of the stuff. My wife loves me buying this stuff because she understands it's part of our numismatic AND savings/wealth protection plan. My entire psychology and attitude regarding finances, money, history, savings and approach to life changed when I started accumulating gold. I owe it ALL to my frugal steelworker Dad who owned some Krugerrands back in the 70's...the gold seed had been planted. Dad would also be proud and approve.
COINgratulations! Nice milestone. I like that mintmarked antebellum stuff - in this case, with the "O" mintmark up high like that, so it looks like the eagle is laying an egg! My first was an 1857 $5 in around Fine condition. I saved up for weeks from my summer job (as camera assistant on a documentary film shoot) to buy it, back when I was 16 years old in the summer of '82. I think it cost me around 150 bucks at the time. Which was a lot of money to me then.
It was a pretty good talk, but it could have been tighter with more focus. I think you got a dealer's/salesman's perspective -- which isn't bad -- but not a numismatists or historian's perspective, like JohnMilton did on $5 Half Eagles. I'm working on such a presentation on Saint-Gaudens (may or may not expand it to include Liberty Heads) and might present it in the future at FUN. If you are going to do a presentation like this, I think you need to hit all the books, archived auction details, and discussions online to get a proper perspective. That way, you give the audience what they want. Leaving the talk, I think many had more questions then when they came in. That's GOOD in that their appetite was stimulated, but a tighter focus with more factual tidbits would have satiated that appetite in part.
