Cheerios Coin!!! HELP!!!

Hey everyone

When I was 12 I opend a box of cheerios and found a saka dollar and penny 2000 in it. I never opened it and its never been handled its in perfect condition in the original package. I searched it on Google and come to find out there is a great chance that it is worth some good money! where do i get it authenticated and appraised? I have never done this before! I am so excited this could so help to pay for college if it is really worth it!! What should I do!?

 

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i really thought this was a joke, till i figured i better google it. that is very cool

there is one of the cents selling on ebay for $15. and since the sac dollar was only released in every 2,000th box, its going to be worth more. to bad you didn't get the certificate for the 100 sac dollars.

someone will be here shortly to help you better. but i just wanted to say, you got a cool find.

 

The Cent is typically being sold at the local shows for about 10 bucks. I see them at most shows. The Dollar, thats another story! Do some homework on the Sac. You have hit a homerun with that coin. Check www.ha.com, they have sold a few in auction.

 

You'll want to inspect the reverse of the coin, especially the tail feathers of the bird. That will tell you if you have the specimen strike.

Find more at:

http://www.smalldollars.com/dollar/page20c.html

Make certain not to touch the surface of the coin; hold it by its edge only. If you do have the specimen strike, congratulations! You may want to send it in to PCGS or NGC to be certified. Do a little research on current pricing for the grade of your coin, and you'll do pretty well for yourself.

 

PCGS has in the past slabbed a sac that was in the cheerios packaging but didn't have the cheerios identifiers. It still brought a little premium. In order to get this labeling it had to be in the packaging when they recieved it so decide what you want to do with it before you open the packaging.

Richard

 

For those of you who don't know the background of the Cheerios Sac, in 1999 a prototype die was produced to strike a gold specimen of the 2000 Sac, and the gold version was taken on the space shuttle. The prototype die had 11 tailfeathers with the central feather being wider, and the wing feathers were enhanced showing more detail. Subsequently, changes were made to the reverse die. The spine of the wider central tailfeather was removed making two narrower tailfeathers and the enhanced wing feathers were "softened" making the detail more subdued for the 12-tailfeather design that was finally adopted for the production of the 2000 Sac.

In 1999, the makers of Cheerios were negotiating with the Mint to obtain the 2000 Sac and Lincoln cent for their special Millennium promotion, and they were able to get 5,500 of each coin with the provision that the promotional boxes of cereal were not to be released before January 1, 2000. Tom DeLorey had been researching this for years trying to prove that the prototype dies were used to strike some of the Cheerios Sac's which the Mint had denied ever happened. Pat Braddick (NGC forum member) had been following this story because he had one of the promotional cellophane packs that contained the coins which he, himself, had taken from a box of Cheerios. Pat was eventually credited with having the first Cheerios Sac authenticated a few years back, and if I recall correctly, it sold at auction for about $9K, but prices have come down since then.

You should be aware that the 11-tailfeather Sac with the enhanced wing feathers and the 12-tailfeather version that was eventually adopted for normal production were both used by Cheerios in their promotion. So, not all Cheerios Sacs were necessarily struck from the prototype dies.

If you can, please post photos of the tailfeathers and the wing feathers so we can see which variety you have. Do not remove the coins from the cellophane! While the 12-tailfeather variety is not worth as much as the 11-tailfeather variety, it still sells for a small premium.

Chris

 

Thanks for the post Chris,
That is a pretty cool story!

 

Do Not...And I repeat...Do not open your package this is very important! Send into PCGS as is. The reason for this is that there are a few non-"cherrios" pattern sacs that PCGS will only give the designation if it arrives unopened in the original packaging. Of course these are not nearly as valuable as a one with the pattern, but still worth a few dollars more than the other non-pattern types.

In the mean time, do a search on this site for the Cherrios dollar. There was another member on here who found one as well. He sent it in to PCGS and it came back graded MS67. He detailed his experience very well. I was able to see additional hi res pics that he did not post on here and that was a very very nice MS67...probably boarderline MS68. He ended up selling it for around $8,000. Don't get too excited when you see the prices printed in price guides and such. These coins dont sell for anything close to what they are being listed as. Go to coin auction sites and search for previous held auctions to get price idea. Also, take note of the dates of when these coins sold. The ones sold years ago sold for more then they are today.

Good luck and keep up posted.

 

pics or it didnt happen!

 

how do i post a pic? i have plunty of my little find i cant believe this!!! im scared to ship it off to someone because i might get ripped off or stolen in the process or lost even. is there a place locally i cant take it? and it has never been opened and i no better than to open it. Im new to this and i have never ever have had a coin go for anything before (except face value) lol pretty cool!

 

Can you post photos of the reverse?

If it isn't the prototype reverse, I don't know if it would be worth submitting. If it is the prototype reverse, I strongly recommend that it be submitted via USPS Registered Mail. That is the safest way since every person in the USPS system who handles the package must sign it in and out.

Chris

 

Here is the thread on how to post photos.

http://www.cointalk.com/t8565/

 

My understanding is that ALL of the Sacs in the Cheerios packaging is of the pattern type.

The value is independent of the packaging. I still wouldn't open the packaging though as it might impart some premium to some buyers. If it's a nice specimen you'll definitely want to get it independently authenticated and graded.

 

I can't wait to see the pics to see if you have the valuable one. Easiest way is to host the pic on photobucket and post the IMG CODE here (it's free).

 

Where is here so we can tell you where to go.

 

Did that work?

 

Nope! There were some of the normal Sac also distributed.

If you have a non-prototype Sac, you would definitely need to leave it in the packaging to get the provenance noted on the insert if it were to be submitted.

Chris

 

Yea chris your right there are some that are non prototype but the was only 2 that were not real and the rest were lagit not sure where to go from here

 

Can you get a close up of the reverse of the doller?

 

You cannot get a picture of the back or see if it is the rare one because of the packaging. DO NOT OPEN THE PACKAGING!! Send it in to one of the grading companies just the way it is, still in the packaging.