Guess the grade--1924 NGC St. Gaudens Double Eagle

Copper spots are diagnostic of a genuine coin. You found some big copper spots.

Very best regards,
collect89

 

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Doug,

I put the AU55 grade in the poll, just for you. I knew that you would need it. But here is my question, do you really think NGC graded this coin as an AU55?

 

I voted MS-63. I'm attributing Liberty's left leg to a weak strike rather than wear. I don't see wear on the eagle on the reverse.

 

Doug, on the obverse. Is the slightly duller area that I circled the wear you are referring to? I'm unfamilar with gold and I would like to learn the subtiles of grading it:

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I went with MS-64*, because I do believe it's in a MS-64* slab (I would've said AU-58, but you have a star after the AU grades, and I didn't think NGC gave stars for circulated coins?) I would grade it an AU-55 now thinking about it more, due what appears to be some wear on the knee and leg on the obverse. Unless, of course, that is just lighting.

Phoenix

 

LOL.

Phoenix

 

Now that I look at it again, what really jumps out to me is Liberty's left leg (her left, not ours). It appears that there is a dull patch as wide as her leg running from just above her knee down to just above her ankle. Is that dull are a sign that the luster has been physically worn off of the high point there?

 

The funny thing about the wear it;s not worn in the high points of the coin ,or the focal areas i thing it;s the strike maybe. i still go with Ms 62 for the toning it may bring it up a couple of notches
Jazzcoins Joe and
to you ,and everybody on this wonderful forum

 

Many collectors now would pay a premium for this coin. Frankly I wouldn't. It appears AT to me, like it was baked. Baking coins, even gold, will produce similar effects.

But again I don't usually care for toning. Especially AT.

 

I would hope that NGC graded this coin AU...and so I say that they graded it AU58, but they may have very well given it a bump to MS for being a looker. However, I give it an AU55. It has wear clearly shown in the pictures on the left leg and particularly on the left wing on the reverse.

 

AU58 - 4 Votes (Educated votes)

MS63 - 4 Votes (Uneducated votes)

 

Ok, Pablo, Mi amigo.....what's the grade?

 

The die hard Saint collectors that say this type of toning is AT are flat out wrong IMO. I've seen it many times, and I know based on the circumstances of where the coins came from that there is no way they could be AT. I would say I see this type of toning maybe 1 out of every 3-4000 saints I handle, and its usually not as dramatic as the example you posted, and the grading companies do call them AT sometimes.

 

The distribution of grade guesses on this amazes me! It's almost evenly distributed for every grade you offered as an option!

 

I don't have any idea what causes toning like this on gold. I have seen it a few times before and it is always the same look: pink, orange, and lime green in swirling bands. Coins are generally artificially toned for two reasons. Reason number one is to hide defects such as marks or cleaning. I think we can rule that out since the toning is not ever deep enough on a gold coin to accomplish that. The other reason is to create toning that is attractive enough in order to charge a significant premium. However, the coin doctor needs to be able to have predictable results and a market for the toning. In addition, the doctor needs to be relatively sure that whatever he does to the coin won't hurt its value. I don't know how much of a market there is for rainbow toned gold or why a coin doctor would risk decreasing the value of an already expensive coin. It just seems like too much risk for too little reward.

Anyway, here is the grade. I bought the coin for the toning and the seller's photo was not good enough to judge the assigned grade. Upon receipt, I was immediately elated and disappointed at the same time. The toning was much more impressive than I thought, but I immediately noticed the rub on the leg and realized that this AU coin had been market graded by NGC to an MS63*. I really don't like when they do that. The fact that the price difference between an MS63 and AU 1924 Saint is only about $150 is irrelevant. This coin belongs in an AU holder, period.



:smile