1897 $5 Gold Coin! What's the Gade?

I picked up this Gold coin at the the Gun/Knife show today.
What do you think the grade is? I think I'm going to send it to be slabed, also?
It has very Nice Luster, just can't see it real well in the photo.
Thanks,
SM

 

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The hair at the 1 O'clock to the 3:30 O'clock shows wear....so I would say AU.

But don't take that grade too much....the other day I decided I need some help with grading gold...I took slabbed gold coins about 15-20+ and graded them myself and then looked at what NGC and PCGS and PCI graded them.....
Lets just say I didn't do too hot.

Speedy

 

Looks like it was cleaned and polished at some point. It's also quite baggy and probably not be worth anything more than melt value. Look on the bright side, gold will never go down.

It could be a bad pic too the cheap 2x2 is making it come out distorted. I would take it out and put it into a direct fit inert plastic holder and take more pics. On a sidebar, all gold coins should be slabbed for authenticity. Gold coins in this era were commonly counterfeited.

 

When you take it out of the 2x2 check the rim to make sure there are no marks there from a bezel. A lot of $5 gold coins including my avatar have been polished and used in jewelry.

Charlie

 

I think that is the photo.....but then Stop Motion has it in hand so he can tell us better.

I don't know why told you that but I wouldn't go near them again....gold may stay up but no one can say for sure....it could fall tomorrow.
If it was a dealer that told you that I can see why....he would get to sell more of his gold coins faster if he told all of his people that it wouldn't go down.

Speedy

 

AU-55, sadly gold really shows the rubs and nicks when under artifical light.

Bone

 

That is the first thing that came to mind when I saw it as well (to be honest). I didn't want to say anything, and it's impossible to really tell without seeing it and wieghing it, but it struck me as odd. Hopefully not...

 

Thanks for the Post guys.

I do believe this is real. It looks a ton better in Hand.
The camera I use does some really funky things wth the Flash.
The photos are what make it look FAKE, but as I said it looks 100% different in color, etc in hand.
I just had a $20 and $10 gold piece from a friend and mine looks the exact same way. I'm going to try and get it weighed today, I'll let you know.
SM

 

The shapes of the cuts look round, as if it wasn't struck well, or more like a cast of some sort. Your cab see it right away, especially on the eagle.


Ruben

 

Couldn't the "casting bubbles" actually be bagmarks?

Charlie

 

The coin probably doesn't show these marks when held in the hand and under natural light. My guess is it's marks on the flip or dust specks under it.

Bone

 

Oops, forgot. It should weigh 8.359 grams, most digital scales only go to the 1/10 of a gram so it should register. 8.3 grams.

Good Luck
Bone

 

Look at the strike under the bust where it comes to a point. That is not struck. Its not sharp. Its roundish.

Ruben

 

I'm comparing it to a type 2 I have and you may be onto something. First he should weight it like GDJMSP advised and have another individual (quickly) take a look at it up close. Someone who's knowledgeable on the series.

 

I don't really see any casting bubbles. There's still a hint of mint lustre which would clue me into authenticity. Try to take it to meat, seafood, deli or bakery dept in your grocery store and ask them to weigh it for you. If it's within the tolerances, then it's genuine.

 

thats exactly what i thought at first,it something looks wrong in the picture and its hard for me to put me finger on it something about the overall details strickes me as a little weird.

 

Ok, Heres what I can come up with on a Sunday afternoon (argh, nothing open)...

It weighs 11.339809 with the 2x2 holder. The 2x2 I think weighs about 3 grams (sound right?) So, i subtracted 3 grams from the total and came up with: 8.339809 grams for the coin. (sound right?)

I got this weight at the PO scale in the lobby, should I try somewhere else?
Thanks guys for helping me with this. I would rather not get burned, if you know what i mean!
SM