I've had a few valuable coins given to me by my mother who inherited them from her aunt. We were interested in the rough value of this coin. If I were to put this on ebay what would be a good reserve to protect myself? Should I go and get this certified/appraised? Thanks for any tips. (see attached files for pictures).
IMHO the coin has been cleaned.....that kills some of the value. I would send them to ANACS....they will certified them but not really put a grade. They are the only ones that will slab cleaned coins. As for a value...there really isn't any way to know---since the coin is cleaned it will take the value down....but I wouldn't know how much on this type of coins....someone else should know better. Speedy
Due to small size of the pictures and the bad lighting that they were taken in, I don't know how anyone could determine that the coin has been cleaned! Jbarry, Can you post some newer closeup pictures with better lighting which will show the actual color of the Gold and crop the background? Also, it would be easier to increase the size of the pictures if they were in a .jpg format instead of a .art format! I would like to be able to detemine if the coin has actually been cleaned or if the coin is just a nice 1854 $3 Gold piece that has been taken care of! Frank
Frank The color...the dirt inside some of the letters/number all point to cleaning. The photos aren't too small to not see the cleaning. The color on the back really points it out. Speedy
I would agree with huntsman53. Those pictures don't 100% indicate cleaning. I have several Indian Head QEs that have dirt/grime in the details and the coin has not been cleaned. I referring to the top part of the 3. Jbarry, if you could post better pictures maybe we could help you out.
Jbarry, this is a rare coin and should command a premium price. Only 138,618 were minted. I would say 500-2000 depending on the grade. Don't quote me but that is just a general range. This coin here, its been cleaned.... http://cgi.ebay.com/1854-3-Dollar-G...387836846QQcategoryZ39468QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The coin has been in a safe deposit box for at least 30 years. Here are better shots of it. The original shots were not picking up the right tones.
Jbarry,that is a very nice looking coin.I have got an 1851 gold $1 that has a gold ring mount attached to the edge of the coin,plus it has been removed from a brooch mount,which is why it has traces of gold solder on the obverse. Aidan.
much better pictures the second time. The coin grades "Very Fine" and is worth about $500-$600. You would get about that if you sold it on eBay with good photos and a good description (assuming that you have a positive eBay track record). Unfortunately, this coin is NOT rare, in fact there were nearly twice as many 1854's minted as any other date of $3 gold! The type is uncommon, but as far as the type goes, this piece is as "run-of-the-mill as they get. Don't get me wrong, $500 is nothing to scoff at, but any other date would have been a significantly better coin. By the way, I'm gonna guess that it is original (not harshly cleaned). But without the coin in hand to inspect for hairlines, I cannot be certain of that. Nice coin! Thanks for sharing. P.S. after looking at the pictures again I am concerned that the disruptions on the rim (obv. @ 3:00 and 7:00) are evidence of the coin having been mounted in jewelry at some poimt in its life. If that is the case then my price is overly optimistic. It it is former jewelery then I'd estimate its value at $300-$400. You may get more than that on eBay, though.
The $3 is a very odd denomination that was produced mainly for the purpose of buying sheets of 3c. stamps.There was also an even odder denomination - the $4 gold,which was intended to tie the US$ to the Latin Monetary Union of Europe,but the $4 gold never got past the pattern stage. Aidan.
Ok, I'm doing my homework. http://cgi.ebay.com/Beautiful-Three-Dollar-1854-Gold-Coin-EF-AU_W0QQitemZ8386160081QQcategoryZ39468QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem sold for $891 (apparently) http://cgi.ebay.com/1854-INDIAN-PRI...389949372QQcategoryZ39468QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem sold $1000 (apparently) Anyone want to rank my coin next to those? (in addition there is the "cleaned" coin that QuarterEagle posted that went for $910. Here's another shot of the nick at 7:00, Cave. Thanks for all the input everyone.
There is no telling what can happen on ebay - people grossly overpay for stuff all the time. IMO they did with all 3 of the coins linked here. Your coin does appear to have been cleaned, your close up shot clearly shows the hairlines. I agree with grade of VF and the value that CT estimated of $500 - $600.
I am not going to chime it about any possible cleaning because I believe that the pictures are still too small to make a 95 to 100% determination where it has or whether it hasn't! I agree that the coin will grade out at VF-20 and will probably not fetch more than $600 due to the two (2) bad rim dings at about K3:30 and K7:30 showing on the the Obverse side. It is still a nice old Three Dollar Gold coin, worthy of a nice spot in anyone's Collection! Frank
