Did The US Mint Really Package Old Worn Out Coins Like This, OR.......

is this guy trying to pull a fast one on people?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-LOW-G...67?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item35d9e9a80b

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-U-S...97?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item540d3b477d

Seems to me the govt. would not bother packaging coins in almost worn out condition and this leads me to believe this seller is redoing the packaging.

 

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Nope... Those are called flat pack GSA's... they are the leftover unsold coins from the GSA Hoard.

 

Wow, I had never seen such worn out dollars in GSA packaging. Of course, I am never looking for them either. Learn something new every day. Thanks.

 

Is a first for me too

 

Well some of the GSA dollars WERE badly worn out (Some 321 were so bad from wear or damage they didn't sell them in the GSA sales.) They sold all the coins, so how would you expect them to package the worn coins? 2X2? No they put them in these soft pack holders and shipped them that way.

The other 321 coins were shipped to the Old San Francisco Mint and used in an exhibit in the museum. Years later after the Old Mint closed down they were sold to people on the mint mailing list for $40 each. And for the most part they were DOGS.

 

Not entirely true Conder... I own 41 of the 321 pieces... They are all baggy... But uncirculated 1884 O and 1921 and 1922 dollars...

It appears that the real junk went into soft packs...

 

Folks forget the story behind the GSA Coins in that bags of silver dollars were found in a federal vault and the government had to figure out what to do with them.

All the coins were not in pristine uncirculated condition and it only stands to reason that some of them were very badly worn.

Granted, I've never seen any except for what was shown today but it makes perfect sense.

I also see that both sold rather quickly.

 

I bought two Peace Dollars packaged in GSA soft paks last year.
1922P & 1923P both look AU.
Note inside the 1923 says, paid $4.00 Order#1241729

 

Those old flat packs are very popular collectibles.

 

Matt,

I've lost some images, could you post a couple of images of the GSA reject dollars and the holders the Mint sold them in?

 

Nope, never heard of it

 

Interesting...this is the first I have ever heard of a GSA gold hoard.

 

I can post pics of the 2 types of packaging tomorrow.

 

Doug... I think that the GSA gold deal might have not been owned by the government per say... I think these may have been coins seized by the government from some sort of criminal deal they prosecuted... They were SOLD by the GSA but were not part of the original hoard. Next time I bump into Selby Ungar I'll ask him. He was one of the consultants on the original GSA hoard if I remember right.

EDIT: For full disclosure I was the buyer of the 2 coins in the original post.

 

Yes I've heard of the "GSA gold hoard" and it is pretty much as Matt has said, these were just coins that the government had acquired, possibly from a drug related confiscation, not something that had been in the treasury vaults for decades like the silver dollars were. They were sold at one of the periodic GSA sales of surplus property the government conducts. The buyer submitted them and had them labeled GSA gold hoard.

Privately done for marketing purposes, and it worked because when they were originally sold people were paying nice premiums for them because of the labeling.

 

Here are the 2 ways the San Fran GSA's were packed and sold.



2 Coin Set

 

That's Matt, just what i wanted.

I have to agree though, I don't know why those would have been pulled out of the GSA sale as unsaleable considering some of what I have seen in the softpacks.