So... is this really a MS65? I have a completely untrained eye, but I'd say the 2nd looks far better? bad? http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1118&Lot_No=9447#Photo good: http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1102&Lot_No=1609
absolutely.... VERY NICE Eagle... Beautiful cartweel on the gold, no significant pitting or hair lines.... BUT most important, NGC graded, you dont even need to go off your eyes, its a nice coin and its already graded by my favorite gold grading company... Dont over think it... Are you buying this coin?????
I'm not buying anything until I get more experience, but you think the one I think is bad is good? (which one do you think is better?)
First impressions are very good on this one HOWEVER no photography reveals EVERYTHING about any coin. It is possible there are some minor issues which don't show up in the photo. Bottom line : these are VERY expensive coins. Do not buy them from a photo alone, even from a reputable crew like Heritage. Get some trusted trained eyes on it. I would wait until you're comfortable judging it yourself. There are things I like about NGC, but don't think for a minute there aren't overgraded coins in their slabs. Same for any grading company.
I agree completely. These coins look beautiful to me...but gold is hard to grade, photos can be deceiving, and you can't have 100% faith in TPGs. They all overgrade coins sometimes, so you need to know what to look for. As for what is a better example, gold is something I have little knowledge of so I won't give an opinion since it can be very hard to grade.
Yeah I was going to say... being someone who has dabbled in photography (a lot), lightning can be a major issue...!
I think both coins are graded accurately, but for different reasons. Based soley on the pics, and it may not be the case in hand, the first coin has better luster while the second coin has a better strike. Mark wise they seem to be about equal. But the first coin is low end for the grade due to quality of strike, while the second coin is mid range for the grade. As to the question about which is better, that depends on what you want out of a coin. Personally I like the second coin better. But the question of cost comes into play. If you look at the previous prices for coins of the same grade you see a rather large range varying from $6300 for the first coin here to $11,500. That is nearly double for a coin of the same grade. Why such a large spread ? Well if you look at the 7 coins you'll see why. But since everyone always seems to say they want to learn more about gold, I challenge you. Go look at the 7 coins involved and then you tell me why the large range in price for a group of coins all graded the same.
Doug - on the second coin look at stars 7 & 8. Is that a touch of wear or weak strike? Not sure so thought I would ask while I go dig up the other coins you mentioned.
This is the first time I have ever really looked at the indianhead $10 gold. Okay - personally I think the 11500 coin was the best coin - strong strike(obverse and reverse, luster-rific). The 14375 coin had the strongest and most lusterous strike of all of them - what did it in for me was the carbon spot on the reverse - I could not keep my eyes off it. The 10,925 - also had very nice strike, but not as nice as as the other two - but still clearly better than those under 10k. All the rest of the coins had weak strikes (in my opinion) in the feathers , same with the eagles breast and to its right(left wing of eagle) on the reverse. I need to quit and maybe revisit them later - things are starting to blur and I started mixing up the pictures. I hope others take up the challenge so I can see what they say. I think this points out why you need to look at lots of coins - even if they are all graded the same.
Well, I don't have a very good answer... but what the heck. I'll take a shot. One possibility is someone thinks the high $$$ coins will upgrade to 66 or above. I doubt that's it, though. From the merits of the coins themselves, the only thing exceptional about the high-priced coins is color and luster. The most expensive NGC and PCGS coins both have fabulous glow-in-the-dark luster. The $9200 NGC has an amazing golden-apricot color. All this judging from photos; no telling what they look like in hand. The highest priced PCGS, a princely $11,500, has an unmistakable nick in a very prime focal area - the cheek. I'm surprised it sold so high. There appears to be a slight premium for PCGS, but that doesn't account for the high prices. The census indicates fewer PCGS coins in 65 vs NGC. Maybe those that sold for higher prices just have unreal eye appeal in hand. That's my best bet.
It does indeed. Which is why it is so important to understand how grading works. Different criteria can make a vide range of coins all grade the same - but they will not price the same. And guess what - I shudder to say this - there is not a CAC sticker in the lot of them
And it should be noted for it teaches you something - don't always pay strict attention to previous realized prices - look at the coins ! Sometimes when trying to establish value you need to throw some prices out. I tend to discard the highest and the lowest and average the rest. When you see an anomaly like this try to figure out why ? One possibility would be that it was a registry collector who needed that particular coin for his set. Another possibility would be that the buyer had more money than sense. Both are equally probable.
I think that we're all guilty of it, but one thing that I have learned, at least from collecting US Postal History, is that things like population reports, mintages, auction estimates and prices realized, price guides, etc. They all mean bupkis. TBH, the same can be applied for what I do for a living as a car dealer. You'll see something bring what seems like silly money at auction but if you weren't there and didn't know who was bidding on it, then it can be very misleading. I can think of about a half a dozen covers out there that I would buy for almost any price if they came up for sale again. I bought one cover not terribly long ago for, oh, I dunno, about 7 times what it was worth. Estimate was $800-1200, it's not in great condition, It doesn't have a ton of eye appeal. It's also a unique usage of the stamp that I collect. It was last available on the market decades ago. I've done this a couple of times and I have also bid other items up to insanity and given up. Common stuff is somewhat easy to peg pricewise, tougher stuff isn't.
