My Father's collection

I'm going to try to get better pix and do a better inventory soon.

I'm in Florida. Yes, I do need an honest person to help me, for sure.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yes, that St. Guadens says $75. But remember, that was way over two weeks pay for my father in the '60's.

Sadly, I have no heirs. No children, no brothers, sisters, aunts or uncles.
My plan is to bequest them to the cat rescue I volunteer for, and I will give them guidelines on value, have them graded and provide them with names of interested parties.
I'm only 48, so this hopefully won't happen anytime soon. Once I am financially stable again, I would like to add to the collection, but that is not realistic at this point. I have to deal with how not to have to sell any of them first. :desk:

Meanwhile, 'on with my education....'

Thanks all.

 

my gosh, i would do just about anything to inherit a collection like that. unfortunately, or depending the persons point of view fortunately, i dont have anyone that collects anything cool on my side of the family. i have never gotten anything from any relative, much less a collection of gold coins easily worth 100k or close to it.

 

Ditto... you looking to adopt!? :mouth:

Lucky cats!

 

Some pix of the Mexican gold.

 

Well, that's good news for you. NGC headquarters is in Sarasota, Florida. Don't know how close you are to there but you certainly have enough here to make it worth the drive over and hand deliver them if you chose to have them graded. (Might want to consider getting a concealed carry permit and a .45 before you leave as well!)

That sure is a noble gesture. But if you're going to do it, I think you'd be better off handling the selling of them yourself because by the time you get done, you're going to be more educated about them than they will be. If they're going to be sold anyway, you may as well handle it and make sure they are properly sold. And then make sure the money gets to exactly who it's supposed to go to.

If you had to sell a few of them for yourself, nobody here could blame you. It's a personal decision. Your father was very smart in picking all these up over the years. If he didn't leave you a better inventory or strict instructions to follow, then it looks like he knew it would be up to you to decide what you choose to do with them. You deserve to benefit from it.

Personally, I'd sell what you need but keep as much as you can, and I'd feel fine with that. I still recommend you get them graded though. You're so close to NGC, it'd be almost crazy not to. Some of them could be worth hundreds maybe even thousands more depending on what grade they were given. You could sell one or two and it would pay for all the grading fees. That's just my .02 cents. Good luck with it all. And if you do get them graded, let us know how it goes!

 

Me too we could be brothers
But i have to say WOW
Dave

 

I think I'll find a trusted friend that has a concealed permit to accompany me, sounds quicker than buying a gun, learning to shoot it, getting a permit.
And then there's the chance that I'd shoot myself in the foot or something. (I just won't tell my escort what the purpose of the journey is, exactly):whistle:

Sarasota is definitely do-able. Is that the best grading facility? I watched the video from PCGS and I was impressed, except for the fact the grader didn't wear gloves at all. :bigeyes:
Where is the PCGS facility located?
It still totally freaks me out to trust USPS or UPS or FEDEX with a package like that. Even if it were insured, it would not replace the rarity or the future value. Do any of you send packages like that?


As far as the bequest of the collection, I don't think selling them prior to my demise is an option. For instance, after I get my will made out this January, If I were to be hit by a bus, they would have to sold after my death. I would not want to sell anything now, unless I am in dire need. I will do all the grading recommended by you good folks, to have a better representation of the collection in general.

Any of the Mexican gold of any particular interest? There is more, but I won't bother with pix if it is just common stuff.

Hopefully I will make it to the safe box tomorrow with a better camera.

Thanks all.

 

Sounds like you're well on your way to getting everything straightened out. PCGS is located in Newport Beach, CA.

I actually prefer NGC slabs. I think they look nicer. But it's personal preference. They are definitely the top two in the country. As far as which one grades stricter or which slab is better, you may as well take a poll as to who makes a better truck. Ford or Chevy? No definitive answer. It's basically a toss up. FWIW, both places were started by the same guy. There's arguments for both places.

You noticed they didn't wear gloves too, huh? Yeah, some of us noticed that as well and were pretty surprised. They did handle them by the edges but still! You think they would for the video at least!! They must feel they are careful enough handling them by the edges.

FWIW, the owner of this nearly one of a kind, 1804 Class 1 silver dollar (sold at auction for $3.7 million dollars), trusted NGC to put it in a slab. If that's any consolation....

http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1104&LotIdNo=7001#


I don't trust the shipping companies all that much either. Mistakes can happen and they're in a hurry. Mistakes are probably far more common than actual theft. I've ordered quite a bit and if I had to guess, i've had probably a 97% success rate over the years receiving things and on time. The glaring reality of that..... it his not 100% success. Few people who order a lot could claim that.

Seriously, you have enough there to warrant traveling to NGC, dropping them off in person and going back and getting them in person. If I inherited that much, I would do the same and I live in Illinois. I'd highly recommend that if they will accept submissions in person. Just have to give them a call.

 

One more thing you may want to know about grading..... Overall, it is the right thing to do. But be prepared. There can be positive and negative results involved. You'll have to take the good with the bad.

If they determine a coin is fake, they will return it unslabbed and you're out the grading fee for it. If the coin is scratched, damaged, harshly cleaned or polished, they will authenticate it, put it in a slab and give it a label that just says 'Genuine'. That's not bad. It will prove that it's real but the numismatic premium will likely be far less than one that receives an actual grade. (With the gold coins, you at least can't get less than their gold value for sure.)

There's a good chance some of them might not receive a grade and will just get the Genuine label. It's almost impossible to tell what will pass or not pass. Sometimes they will grade something after submitting it a few times. But they are very strict. Most old coins were cleaned at one time because years ago, it was actually encouraged to make them look shinier and more desirable. Some coins were cleaned over 100 years ago. But they are still likely to only get the Genuine label today.

Now, for grades, here's NGC's current price spread for a 1909-S VDB BN (Brown) like you have from Good to AU-55. Yours falls somewhere in here.

G-730.00 VG-930.00 F-1,140.00 VF-1,260.00 EF40- 1,440.00 AU50-1,470 AU53- 1,500 AU55- 1,580

As you can see, the grade makes a big difference in price. The actual coin quality difference can be VERY minor. Some of your other coins may have much MUCH higher jumps between grades. In comparison, the grading fee will be nothing for what you can gain.

 

. . . . cat rescue???

 

Such a wonderful collection.

 

yeah, you know, the furry things that meow. its a place that saves them.

 

would you like "possum" rescue better?

 

I agree 100%!!!Honest appraisal is the key to finding the value of your father coins all of them,I sure like most of us here he hand picked his collection.

 

wow nice collection, but you have already heard that a time or two.

 

Congratulations

This thread has turned me back into the coin voyeur.
This is a wonderful thing you Dad has provided to you.

I take it he liked cats, too.

And with such a collection as this it looks like it could be verging on a liability!:bigeyes:

GREAT COLLECTION and it looks like you have already got them "stabilized" and secured from degrading via neglect.

Now to have some fun, and you already have a close friend with a concealed carry permit, pick one minor piece and offer it for sale.

Find out how many predators around you will do what.

 

You have a retirment fund there for sure. I would get them appraised and insured.

that is just amazing that your dad collected all of those.

if you do go to sell them i recommend a private auction. a dealer is not going to give you what they are worth by far you are looking at a 20-30% loss or more depending on the dealer.

at an auction you can set the reserve price and if it doesn't sell you can keep it. if it meets the reserve price then you get what you want.

getting them appraised will help with the auction as well.

coins are a hot item and more so gold coins right now. people are buying them up. the market is hot and now is the time to be selling.

 

Heritage Auction perhaps??

Let the general masses determine their value by bidding on them... you have time.