Hi. I won this coin on an Ebay auction. Most expensive coin I have ever purchased. I am not able to find alot of information on the Larry Shepherd coins. Wondering if I payed too much ($2,250). Appreciate any help. Thanks.
Very pretty. I know next to nothing when it comes to values but I checked numismedia and a 1880 PR66BN is valued at $790 according to them.
Beautiful coin, but I hate to say that I think that you really overpaid for this one. It's close to a CAM and probably has more vibrant toning in hand than the images show, so that would command a premium over standard guide pricing somewhat. Even with that considered, it's more like a 1,100 to 1,200 coin. If you like it keep it, but if you have a return option, I would take it. I've been collecting early proofs for twenty five years now, and nicely toned Indian Cents like this are actually very common.
Btw, Larry Shepherd is a pretty well respected numismatist known for assembling some very fine top ranking registry sets. I respect his opinion, but wouldn't consider the pedigree the same as one of the top collectors. Cool, but not really an addition of value to the piece imho.
Thanks, Kirkuleez. The seller does offer a 30-day money back. I quess I thought maybe the fact that it is from the Larry Shepherd Collection would command a premium over what the PCGS price guide "suggests". Appreciate the feedback.
I could tell you that the PCGS price guide is generally high on business strike coins, but it tends to be low for earlier proof coins. It is especially low on 1,2,3,5 cent denominations prior to 1900 in my opinion. When I was doing a proof liberty nickel set a couple of years ago, there were painfully few coins available for less than 25% over PCGS price guide. Needless to say, that set took me forever to consider complete because I'm picky and sort of cheap. Was this part of an auction that featured plenty of coins from his collection that all seemed to go higher than expected, or was it just a single coin that you liked?
It was a single coin sold by Tangible Investments, inc. They originally had it listed for sale on their site for $2500. I thought, $2250? Maybe a fair price, maybe not. I saw the 30-day money back return policy and said what the heck, I really like the coin - but not for ~$1000 over value.