Argentina man has Ecuador Doubloon 1839 Moby Dick coin and wants advice on selling

I received an email today from an Argentina man who asked me:

"Dear, I have a moby-dick coin and I would like to sell it, could you help me with that?"

He must have seen my website "Coins in Movies - Moby Dick".

I asked him for pictures of his coin and he replied and sent me these two:


Ecuador doubloon 1839 obverse


Ecuador doubloon 1839 reverse

The "Moby Dick Coin" is an Ecuadorian 8 Escudos doubloon, minted in Quito, Ecuador, between 1838 and 1843. It is the coin that whaling ship Captain Ahab nails to the mast as a reward for the sailor who spots Moby Dick, the great white whale.

These are valuable coins and sell for $5,000 or more (from Heritage Auctions past sales)

What should I advise the man?

 

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I'm clueless but my first questions would be:
(a) what is it's composition? clad, silver, gold ? I cannot discern from the pics.
(b) have you checked eBay ? or the internet in general for similar items.

quick search has these hits:
==> https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide...s-km-23.1-1838-1841-cuid-1036236-duid-1244507

==> http://www.coinfactswiki.com/wiki/Ecuador_1839-MV_8_escudos

==> https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces40587.html


melt value is at $930ish as it's gold.

the ngccoin link above has VG8, VF, XF prices on sold auctions.
so there's a start.

Hopefully an expert on S.A coinage can see this.

 

There was a seller on ebay some years back that had thick gold plated copies made from high quality photographs he apparently took of a genuine one at a museum. Can't see too much from the photos, but my gut says nope.

 

I know nothing of these coins but I smell a rat.

 

I'm looking at it more and I think it may be an ex-jewelry piece. If your acquaintance can provide better pictures that would be great

 

OP, be careful to make sure this isn't a Nigerian Prince situation.

 

I gave the man some generic advice to contact dealers in Argentina and possibly the United States about selling the coin.

I did not recommend any particular dealers.

He is familiar with the internet as he had to have used a search engine to find me.

He never mentioned that he wanted to sell the coin to me.

I wished him good luck with selling it.

 

Have the owner send the coin to PCGS or
NGC for obvious reasons. Once the questions are
answered then send it to Heritage Auctions if
necessary.

 

Don't know what to think about a coin like this...it's heavily circulated which seems odd to me, maybe a lot of stackers in those days...needs to be cert. by NGC or equal.

 

Advise the man not to nail it to the mast - holed coins lose much of their value

 

Although at least that way we would know for sure whether it is gold or just plated!

 

I know a scammer who, if he had such a coin, real or counterfeit, would put a nail hole in it and try to sell it as THE Moby Dick coin.

 

I agree with @ tibor , tell him to have it certified , and then he will know what he has for sure. If it is genuine then it would pay off well for him to have this done. Dillan

 

certification by NGC or PCGS is a must !