I have a friend whos father (60ish) wants to sell a 1907 $10 gold indian. I have not seen it yet but but I am assumeing it is a gaudens. I am told by my friend that the pawn broker would only offer him $400 for it and he won't sell for less then $600. Again I have not seen it yet (I will on Thursday) and i will weigh it and examine it then. I am told it was given to his father by his father/grandfather. Simply, i feel the story is true (and trust my friend even if i don't know his father) I also know this is probably one of the most counterfited coins on the market. I am inclined to at least look at the coin myself before i make any decision but any advice on what to look for would be appreaciated. I would love this coin for my collection and $600 seems a fantastic price. Opinions?
Well, if it's the $10 Indian, it's probably not the Gaudens since that was the designer of the famous $20 Double Eagle. $600 would be a great deal when the baseline is somewhere in the $900-$1000 range for a common date or a lower non-mint state piece.
A. St. Gauden's designed both the Double eagle minted from 1907-1933 AND the $10 Indian that was minted from 1907-1933 as well. B. A double eagle is any $20 gold piece minted from 1849-1933. There is no "famous $30 Double Eagle". To the OP, you will need to authenticate the coin and $600 would be a steal. It's up to you to decide how much you think would be fair for both parties.... Do know, the bullion alone would be $834, and most any coin shop would give at least bullion value for an authentic coin.
Kookoo, you call yourself a collector?!? Any amateur could tell you there was never a 30 dollar coin! Oh, and by the way, a good way to authenticate 1907 gold eagles is to check the edge and the relief.
$600 Is less than the coin is worth , He must have taken it to a dishonest pawn broker . I'd weigh it and it should weigh 16.78 grams . Also a 1907 Indian should have 46 raised stars on the rim .
Hey guys, just a typo. You try typing with a hungry 2 month old in your arms. And besides, I know the $10 Indian was designed by Gaudens, however the $20 Double Eagle has been traditionally known as the St. Gaudens nickname.
The coin currently melts for $834. If it is real then you would not be buying this coin from a friend for $600, but would rather be buying it from someone you were taking advantage of.
As I've mentioned in previous posts tom the nearest coin shop to me is over 30 miles away. there are however about 20 "we buy gold and silver" places and $400 is about the type of offer I would expect from most of them. Now add to that, that I showed my friend the melt value on "coinstudy.com" so before you go judging someone elses morals be sure you know your facts. From my experence people that make such accusations against other peoples morals are generaly the ones most likely to have none themselves.
I can vouch that, while I haven't done any business personally with Tom, he is a very established dealer and, especially if you follow the PCGS boards, has a very high reputation. Do know that just because you are offering better than someone else, doesn't make your offer fair.
It should look like this pic. Take a scale, a magnet and a good friend who knows more than you do about gold. Or just take some pics and slap it on this forum and see what the peers say. :thumb: Or take a hand held spectrometer. j/k
If the man doesn't want to drive the 30 miles to a real coin dealer and after making him aware of the melt value then makes me and offer of $600 for the coin (i did not offer it to him) Now having shared this information with him as I have done, how can accepting it be unfair? As for Tom he could have just as easily asked questions instead of jumping to conclusions and calling my morals into question. Let's face it if i was trying to rob someone blind the last thing i would do is post it to a public forum. On an added note please consider I was asking for advice so that "I" don't get ripped off. This is only a great deal if the coin is real.
Prior to Tom possting, you had made no reference to the fact that you told the seller what it melts for. Rather, you made it seem that someone who knows nothing about coins just felt like 600 was what he wanted for the coin. I believe in paying FMV for items, whether wholesale if I intend to resell it or appropriate retail if it is for my collection. I have many times been offered coins, for example someone once offered me a lot of 27 morgan dollars, assorted dates, and claimed they wanted silver value. I gave them silver value for 26 of them, but the last one I pointed out was a carson city and paid wholesale. In the end, it really just comes down to the way you play in the hobby, and that is a personal choice.
Ok again let me appoligize here. It was wrong of me to call toms morals into question even though he attacked mine 1st but when poked I tend to poke back.
I don't see what is wrong with offering him $600 for it...now, if you told him it was only worth $600 then that's a little different. Look, if I was in this situation here is how I would approach it. I would first examine the coin and determine it's authenticity and value. Lets say it's only worth melt. I would tell him, the coin has no value above it's gold value which is $834. If you shopped around a few dealers and did some leg work...you could probably sell the coin for 90-95% of that depending on the dealer (which would be $750-$790 aprox). Because face it, a dealer is not going to pay the full melt value. I would then say, I have $600 cash in my pocket right now. I would buy it from you for $600 cash and you wouldn't have to track down any dealers and do any work. That is not ripping someone off. There is a certain value to the convenience of this situation. If the owner really doesn't want to track down dealers and try and squeeze as much as he can out of the coin (and remember...that takes both time and gas money to do)...that is his choice. As long as the person who is trying to buy the coin doesn't deceive the seller...then there is nothing wrong with this. Now, I'm sure some will disagree with me. But, that's OK.
