A friend at work brought in some Brown Box Ike's today. He was off to a local B&M at lunch to dump them as he found them in a closet while doing some cleaning, and was not interested in them. He had a mint box of five 1972 Ike Brown Boxes (opened mint box), and two individual 1971 Ike Brown Boxes. He also has a 1969 proof set with no box. I offered him $40 for the lot and he took it. I am not into Ike's per say, but I could not help but think that he was probably going to take a low ball offer. The collector in me just could not let him do it. My question is, did I do okay? Should I have let him sell them at the B&M? Do I now have a pile of Ike's that are only worth their silver content? All the boxes are in great shape, and the coins all intact. Thanks in advance.
Reading your post I have come to realize I don't even know what a "brown box" Ike is?! Hopefully somebody could enlighten me at the same time they give you an answer about the deal.
That a fair price to pay your friend for 6 Mint sealed Proof 40% silver Ikes in the original boxes. They are all "S" MM right? What's B&M? I've sold some Ikes in the Mint slab without the boxes for $9 to $15 each range in the past year. If they have 'nice' tone they may do better than that. They seem stuck in that price range though. Got any pics? Post them in the Post an Ike thread if so. Also, check completed eBay auctions. A lot of them sell there. I'm curious to hear what others might have to say in terms of prices.
The box they were packed in looks like faux wood, hence 'brown box' Check some eBay auctions and look for images like this: image from eBay
Some info on the Brown Box Ike -- I'll post pictures later. A brief series of Proof Eisenhower Silver Dollars was produced by the United States Mint as a collectible version of the newly issued dollar coin. The San Francisco Mint produced proof Eisenhower Dollars struck in a composition of 40% silver. These were envisioned as a product which would allow collectors to have a modern Silver Dollar. These coins were sold to collectors individually, with an initial price of $10.00 per coin. This was a big premium to the uncirculated 40% silver dollars, which were offered for only $3.00 per coin. The proofs were packaged in a brown outer box. The coin was sealed in a plastic holder and placed within a red velvet insert. Because of the color of the outer packaging, many collectors refer to these coins as "Brown Ikes". Many Brown Ikes exhibit toning or haziness. Most times, this appears an unattractive, cloudy haziness or uneven milky tones. Sometimes the coins do exhibit attractive toning, which presents with many colors or a bulls eye pattern. Brown Ikes were offered from 1971 to 1974. The highest mintage Brown Ike was the first year of issue when over 4 million were sold. The mintage's showed big declines after the inaugural year, reaching their trough in 1973 when 1,013,646 coins were sold. This issue carries a premium to the other silver proofs.
I don't know about that, but for $40 you just saved the planet. How come I don't got friends like you?
I don't pay any more for peg legs than I do for non peg legs unless it is a 71S Blue Ike. Here is a link that you may find interesting..... http://www.money.org/AM/Flash/NumismatistArticle/71SSilverPegLegFullArticle.pdf
You did fine, I have all of the Brown box Ikes and I have seen several of the 71 & 72 go for 10 - 15 dollars on Ebay. I wish those kind of friends would stop by my house.:hail:
Thanks for all the info. I think it was worth the $40, and am keeping them in the 'vault'. Of course now I will have to go get the 73 and 74 just to say I have a complete set ... the life of an OCD collector :goof: I do like the brown simulated wood grain boxes though. They kind of remind me of the paneling my Dad had in our family room / basement in 1971
