My First Slabbed Coin! (lots of big pics)

First the back story…..I used to collect as a child with my father who encouraged my interest in the hobby. When I was a teenager, I sold my small collection to him for money for a stereo system. Led Zepplin and Aerosmith were much more important to me back then. As I abandoned it, he kept buying mint and proof sets. About 15 years ago, he gave it all back to me. Nothing in it was real valuable except for the memories.

When my Dad passed away from cancer about 10 years ago, I acquired his college class ring. Since my return to collecting about 6 months ago, I have thought about whether to sell his ring for bullion value and to put the money back into a gold coin. After wrestling with the ethics and upon much reflection, I felt I would honor him best by selling his ring and buying a coin I would look at more often than the ring.

After examining the various types and what I could afford, I decided on a $5 Indian Head gold piece. However, after reading about all of the scams and counterfeits out there, I decided to buy this coin slabbed. This is my first slabbed coin (purchased at the Bloomington, IN show yesterday) and I’d like to share it with you. I’ve resisted slabs due to wanting to be closer to the coin, but I guess I need to get over that. The pictures aren’t the greatest yet I’ve tried to show some detail (hence the upside down pictures). It’s hard to show what is on the coin versus what’s on the plastic. These were taken in natural light, again not the best – I’ve really got to practice macro photography.

Here ya go:


The slab!



Obverse:



Feather detail:



Reverse:




Fields detail




I looked up the NGC website and there are 242 graded at this level, with many more graded higher. I'm happy with what I have, but I would be curious to see if you agree with its grading. Also, is there a way to look up when it was graded (figuring things may have changed in time)?

 

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and

 

My take

OK.....let me see if I can tell why it was graded MS60 versus something higher. I have no experience with these coins, but, let me try to break down why the coin is the lowest of the mint state grading.

Reverse: positive - little to no wear on the eagles feathers, breast, and head. On the negative, there are a few slight scratches and nicks in the reverse fields.

Obverse: the headdress feathers top 3 are strong with detail, but there is slight fading on the bottom three larger feathers. The puffy flowers show very slight wear, but the headband is clear. Cheekbone is full and high - no wear.

This seems like a typically strongly striked coin, so I'm guessing that some of the above details are not due to weak strike. So, help a newb. Am I correct in the analysis? What would the next grade up require that my coin doesn't have?

I love my new coin!

 

Catbert - I find this a great way to honor your dad. I can only imagine your decision must have been a tough one. Congrats on your first slabbed coin... may you have many fond memories of your dad and your new coin!

 

I don't believe it's quite that old, but somewhere near there. Nice coin, BTW. :thumb:

 

Nice coin! A good start as your first slabbed coin. :thumb:

Phoenix

 

I second that remark!!

Nice Indian...

RickieB

 

Congrats on the acquisition of such a beautiful coin. I don't own any of these, any gold coins at all, but I sure love the art in this one.

Keep on Collecting!!!

Allen

 

Nice coin. I love that old US gold with the indian on it. priceless, well not quite but very nice.

 

Congrats. That's one of my favorite coin types!

 

Catbert, congratulations on your new coin. It's a beauty! I think it definitely honors your father's memory. I'm sure he'd much rather like you to have something that you truly enjoy and since he collected coins too, this seems perfect. I also agree with the grade and I'm glad you bought it slabbed. Very nice!

 

Hey Catbert. Great story. I love your coin. I've been looking at them like crazy the last couple of weeks. I think they might be my favorite design and I look forward to owning one (or more) of them in the future. Really nice. Thanks for sharing.

I'm just getting back into the hobby and I'm pretty enthused about it. I have a little more buying power now than when i was 14. lol

See you around.

 

Catbert,

I'm sure your dad would be good with your decision.
I own but one gold U.S. coin meant for circulation. Just happens to be a $5 Indian.
A great uncle of mine showed me his when I was a child. Man! I loved that design.
About 5 years ago I finally broke down' and bought one.

Nice coin you got there!

clembo

 

Thanks!

I want to thank all of you who responded to my post. I am glad to find validation in your views that trading the ring for the coin was appropriate. Only thing that would have made it perfect would have been if the coin was a 1924 (his birthdate) versus a 1911. Anyway, I'm really enjoying it - an absolutely beautiful and proud design.

 

Nice coin and story !! I like it better than just a 60 tho, it's got eye appeal.

 

Great looking coin. I suppose your going to leave it in the slab. Many people do with coins as expensive as that but not me. I only have a few Gold Coins but none in slabs. In fact I have no slabbed coins at all. Over the years I've bought some but always break them out. I'm old so don't care about keeping a slab for tomorrow. I'd rather have the coin.

 

You're off by one variety. The 92 - 95 is the NGC 5. This is the NGC 6, the last variety with the full width hologram on the back, but the first with the "keyed" insert. (The groove in the insert that separates the label area from the coin. That makes it late 1995 - 97 Then in 1997 (typo in the book says 87) they went to the square half width hologram. This slab type is actually a little tougher to come by.