100+ year old gold coins unable to sell for melt?!

I haven't bought any Libs or Saints in about 15 years, but back then I was paying about 2% over spot for XF-AU, sometimes even for 1870s dated common Libs.

 

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He was selling to the wrong market. I could sell the whole lot in an hour at melt. A few minutes at below melt. And probably a bit longer above melt

 

Very true, most people are only interested in buying gold when it is high and has been going up recently. When it is low or stagnent they have little interest. The saying is Buy low and sell high, but in real life most people buy high.

 

Yup. The number of participants here skyrockets AFTER pm goes up. I tell everyone to be calm right now, start slowly, but do not forget it. Your best purchases are when the market cools, premiums and price come down, and you can buy at your leisure.

Few do this, but its the best way IMHO. Slow accumulation over the years.

 

So, I have a question. First the basic assumption. "They get sold for melt". I ask because I've been wondering for some time now.

Q: Does anyone or any company track these for population tracking? Or is it a basic assumption by the TPG's on existing populations?

I think I know the answer and looking for input. As far as the OP's questions. I would think in these times of Pandemic, maybe folks just don't want to tie $1000's on a single coin. Plus, most articles I've been reading lately continue to predict silver will out perform gold in value gains. IMO.

 

YouTuber Mark Dice couldn't give it away (10 oz. silver bar), offering people on the street a free chocolate bar or a free silver bar - a revealing social experiment
Trying to sell a gold Eagle coin for $25 had the same results - the average Joe is leery of precious metals or just ignorant of the value...

 

GDJMSP, I agree with you! "Follow the bouncing ball" It's been bouncing for centuries... Thank you for the post, GD's response, and my opinion.

 

well, IMHO, never buy a gold coin if it hasn't been graded. Did I mention...NEVER! Too much counterfeit out there and I also recommend NEVER buy any gold coins that don't have an MS69 or MS70! Why? Because of the resale value. Yes, it's gold, but it would be worth a lot more if it had a higher rating! For me, I ONLY buy coins that have a High MS rating. The only other exception, IMHO, are coins with low MS ratings that are of the late 1700s. I would love to have one of those. Maybe my Secret Santa this year will send me a coin from the late 1700s! Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

The Law of Supply and Demand. Large quantities of common U.S. gold have come out of Europe in recent years because of the (relatively) high price of gold. Supply exceeds demand. I remember buying a harshly cleaned $20 Saint for melt at the 1983 ANA convention. Stuck it in a bezel and wore it as a necklace for a few years. Then demand went up and I sold it for a $200 profit.

 

From an economics perspective, this is putting the cart before the horse. The reason the price is low is because there is little interest. The reason the price is high is because there is great interest. Of course, the price of gold is influenced much, much more by forces beyond collecting, but these other factors drive the interest in buying at melt.

 

The middle eastern counterfeits you’d be fine buying at melt as the fineness is the same

 

And just because they say they are selling them "for melt" doesn't mean they are going to get melted. It means selling them for the value of the metal, no additional premium.

 

I get where everyone is coming from.

Im just saying in my heart, as a coin collector, it hurts to see 100+ year old coins treated as bullion.

Im not saying it’s illogical or wrong. I’m just saying It’s sad to me.

 

I flip it around.

Take a 1907 Eagle. Maybe an equivalent coin is a 1907 half dollar. What is an average BU half dollar going for, couple hundred? The Eagle, by rights, should be about similar. Instead, because its roughly a half ounce of gold, goes for more like $900. EVERY precious metal coin at some point is only worth melt, and at other points are worth a premium to melt. Back when silver was $5 an ounce, every barber coin was a premium because of collectibility pressure. When silver as over $40 every worn barber, (not key dates), was melt. Same with gold. Common gold eagles were at a premium when gold was $275, at $1800 they are melt.

Two different groups, two different demands, are intersecting. One is coin collectors, the other bullion people. Bullion people will always value at bullion, but coin collectors will have a more traditional demand curve, buying more at lower prices, less at higher.

 

We can agree to disagree on the point, (I remember dealers wanting premiums on all old gold at those price levels where I lived), but the main point being at low enough PM prices ALL coins start to carry premiums due to collector demand, and at high enough PM MOST PM coins lose their premium due to demand being only from bullion buyers at that market price. In between, where we live most of the time, is when things get dicier, the two markets interacting. I think it makes it easier to understand the market if you remember what happens in the extremes.

 

He could easily sell those gold coins for above melt on most coin forums. The story does not add up, by the way. He only sold one coin, but has a $3,000 minimum. Well, one coin is less than $3,000. Why would you have a minimum if you are selling at melt anyways? Sorry, I don't buy this video.

 

Thanks. I was thinking the same margin range, so that helps.