I am looking at buying two 8R cobs from the Atocha both are Phillip III with one having an M assayer mark and the other a B. Both are from Potosi. Each have an old Mel Fisher hand signed Certificate of Historical Artifact dated from 1976. They each have a grade of 22 points. Seller is wanting $800 each for them. I have done quite a few hours of reading and can't find many of these CoA and was wondering if it affects the value?
Hmmmmm, since he didn't discover the wreck of the Atocha until 1985, I'd be just a bit skeptical. Besides, Atocha artifacts are notoriously over-priced. Usually you can buy an example of the same coins for a fraction of the cost.
1985 was the motherlode but i have found other CoA's from the 70s that have sold so i am not as worried on that account
There was talk years ago about some of these being sold that were not really artifacts. I think they were being sold out of the Fisher store.
The certificate is like this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/281376033000?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Unless you really want a coin from the Atocha with the usual water damage , I'd wait and buy another . To me there's no reason to pay more for a salt water eroded coin , unless it's for the history of it . To me all cob pieces have enough history . But as usual you should buy what you like and want .
Well, I lived in the Keys in 1976 and knew Mel Fisher and all I can tell ya is this - he hadn't found any coins from the Atocha by then.
Thank you for the input. Yesterday I sent some hi def pictures to Sedwick Coins they were very satisfied nothing was amiss. Here are a couple if anyone out there might offer some help.
Maybe, if you can sell it to a tourist or somebody who knows nothing about coins. But it is doubtful because you are paying or have paid "tourist price". Like I said, the coin is actually worth a fraction of that amount.
$800 is too much... There is one on eBay now with the same kind of cert with a $750 BIN... And it sits unsold... In no reserve auctions they sell in the $600 range normally... Save your money. Keep in mind that these are $200-$300 coins normally without any certificates.
Matt (LostDutchman) would know the prices way better than me , but IIRC that's a price the HSN would sell at , and we all know how overpriced they are compared to other dealers .
Haha! Not quite! But $800 is probably full retail. On HSN it would be $1699.95 but it would come with a cherrywood display box and the opportunity to use flexpay... Haha!!
I was surprised by how much some of these brought in a recent Heritage auction. From a resale perspective, I think you'll lose money on anything over $300 for those.
