5 dollar and 2.5 dollar gold helphelp

Well gold guys I need some advice. I just purchased a lot on ebay which included a 1910 indian head $5 dollar gold and a 1913 2.5 indian head gold both which look circulated (seller had blurry pictures, and I was taking a stab in the dark). If you know me and what I collect, gold is not really my strong suit so I do not own too much of it. I am working on getting some couterfeit and general gold literature to my house as we speak so I can school myself.

Question is, can you guys determine genuine from counterfeit from the following pictures?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111863471493&alt=web






The reason I ask is because originally the lot started off @ $600, which I thought was too overpriced for the coins in the condition they represent. Last night he lowered the price to $585 then a few hours later lowered it to $570. This morning I woke up and looked at the listing and seen he dropped the price down to $525. This had me thinking but I still was not comfortable with the price. I did somethings around the house and outside and returned to look 2 hours later. The seller had dropped the price by another $100 dollars to put the lot at $425 for both. I immediately bought it and figured by the time they get to my house I should have the resources and books on hand to determine genuine or counterfeit. With everything in life though a book can only prepare for so much, it is the hands on experience that allows you to master the art of anything. So in all this is why I am reaching out to some of the gold guys here for your expert opinions. The worry comes from the $175 price drop in less than 24hrs which makes me think he was either baiting the hook for a buy, or trying to get rid of counterfeits.

Any advice would be appreciated. I plan on getting in gold (have been purchasing slabbed and unslabbed examples from people on this forum) so any help would be great!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

They look fine to me. However, I'm not an expert.

 

Both look OK to me. I would have snapped them up too. Good purchase! (Hopefully!)

 

Thank you both for your answers! When I do receive them, I will take some better pictures.

 

You can find good deals like that if you search hard enough. I mainly search $2 1/2 listings, and that was in $5 category. Also, if you searched lowest price, that one would not be one of them, since it was a 2 for one deal. That is probably why it wasn't getting as many views.

 

From a photo, they look good to me. It sounds like he needs the cash for something else and he wanted a quick sale.

 

I kind of figured as such but you never know these days. His feedback is impeccable. I also checked his sold items and it did not show any gold which worried me a bit. @jwitten , I was searching for hours for a good slabbed sample $5 dollar for my 7070, but ended up finding this listing. Like I said before, it was listed @$600 so I put it in my watch list and was waiting til I got home (I ordered a few gold books) before I would have made an offer, but the price started dropping and I started watching. My guess is Vf grades, so I was in @ $450-475, but he dropped below that and I kind of figured it would be gone if I waited to get home and into books. You guys are a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate the opportunity to get advice from you guys! Thanks again!

 

Score! Sounds like you were in the right place at the right time.

 

Good purchase (I hope).

You have more guts than I do. Due to the counterfeiting problem, I wouldn't consider buying Indian gold unless it was slabbed or I knew the dealer real well.

 

Yes, thats the part that scares me. I have been trying to stick to slabbed examples, or raw from trustworthy sellers ( JWitten) but this was one of those buys that I said "if its counterfeit, Ill send it back". I try to avoid doing this but with the pictures provided and my limited knowledge of counterfeit indians, this was one of those times I opted to take the chance. If I hadn't, someone else would have pulled the trigger...

 

I don't see anything immediately alarming, but the pics aren't good enough to offer any certainty. The $5 is probably a melt coin at the grade, but the $2.5 is an easy AU and worth $250 at AU55 on its' own, to go along with $250 in melt value from the $5.

 

Show me where you can buy $5 gold Indians for melt in this condition and I will buy a bunch of em.

 

See the area at the back of the neck on the 1913? That looks like the typical "patch of horizontal die polish" lines found on fakes. That should be the first place to look when the coins come in.

Also there might be some discoloration all around the rims of both coins. This usually indicates they were in a bezel (pendant, cufflinks). That would be a good thing as genuine coins are usually used for jewelry.

Post some sharp photos when you get them.

 

I will do just that, thank you for the advice!

 

You say one thing indicating it may be fake, then another indicating it may be real. And if you can see die polish lines on the neck with those pics, you have pretty good vision. I have 20/15 and don't see it.

 

I have four eyes and good color perception. I see a change of color in that area.

Try this: Put your nose one inch away from the screen. Now close your left eye. Open it and move way back while closing your right eye... do you see it LOL now?

Actually, there is a small area of yellow rather than dull gold in that spot. It is similar to the color of the first star. Many counterfeits in this series have that patch. On this coin it is larger than I should expect;yet photo's and reflections change things. Overall color on both look genuine and that "ring of discoloration" is a plus.

I have heard that a professional authenticator knows in a few seconds if a coin is genuine. THAT MAY BE CHANGING FOR EARLY COPPER AND TRADE DOLLARS. If he still has no opinion, in his head he counts the # of +/- he sees on the piece. He may drag out a scope or even consult with others in the room to arrive at an opinion.

 

Fuzzy pictures and odd lighting can do everything you just described.

 

You are correct. Let's wait and see...

 

I see no real reason for alarm. Not my series but they look like a real good chance of being genuine

 

I don't really know. They come to market in condition this worn so infrequently that the most recent sales I can find went for less than the current melt value. An NGC MS60 went for less than current melt last June.