My friend's Grandfather passed away a year or so ago, he lived to be in his 90's! He stashed away coins for the majority of his life, we even found old news paper clippings dating way back, suggesting what was collectible and what was worth what. He even had some old hand-written lists.....we're still trying to find where some of this stuff is but according to his 90 something year old wife he used to hide this stuff in odd places around the house. My friend thought it would be interesting to sort through the coins after he found out I was into that sort of thing. We drove to his Grandmother's and he talked to her about sorting through them and she told him "feel free, but that she'd be happy if they were worth more than a hundred dollars." He left with a few old leather bags. We found a bunch of Morgan's, Peace Dollars, Indian Cents and Nickels, Halves and lots of wheaties. Some of the Morgans were beautifuly toned and Uncirculated! But what I am wondering about, is the 1799 draped bust dollar, which was once worn as a pendant. It has a hole punched through it wwhere the latigo would wrap through. The coin is only worn in one spot where it would be in contact with the chest. Otherwise, it is in truly great condition. He plans to pass everthing on to his future children or if that never pans out, his nephew. We would like to know the severity of value reduction so that he knows to what extent he should properly store the coin. So, if anyone could be of any help it would be greatly appreciated!
That coins can be extremely valuable, especially if pedigree is established. Pics are needed. Unfortanetely, it is now damaged. Ruben
If the DBD is genuine it may be worth it to have the hole plugged. Not sure if NCS plugs coins but I know there are some people that can repair a hole so it is almost impossible to detect. What is a "latigo"?
Thanks for everyone's replies. What I mean by latigo is twisted leather strands. I will try to get some pictures up at some point but it may not be until tommorow or Monday. If I read Ruben correctly it sounds like this coin could still be valuable from a collectibility standpoint...????
They can still fetch a couple hundred dollars with a hole, and even more if it's a rare variety. :thumb: But like Hobo said, it's worth it to have it professionally plugged. Ribbit
I don't know of I would have it plugged. Wouldn't collectors prefer a coin to just be damaged once (holed) rather than damaged twice (holed and plugged)?
I agree - I would not plug it. I would send it to ANACs or PCGS for authentication. I saw one holed and plugged a few weeks ago - while the plug was okay it just really ruined the look of the coin. One of the guys there even mentioned they should remove the plug. Just my opinion.
On a PROFESSIONALLY repaired coin though the plug is almost invisible. Most collectors would not even realize it had been repaired
I also saw a plugged coin the other day... real bad job of plugging it, but it was selling cheap for the series (can't remember what coin it was, I just saw it in a "bargain bin" and said no way).
I would hope that most collectors who were investing in Draped Bust Dollars could...those are kind of expensive to buy without knowledge.
I would prefer the hole to the plug because it would make the coin more affordable, and for me originality trumps appearance. But I've also seen professionally plugged coins that really look good and they seem to fetch more money, perhaps a couple of hundred more for a DBD.