1878-P trade dollar (yeah, right...)?

It's me! It's me! Good luck with it. We'll send our coins out in a couple weeks. Such a fascinating piece!

 

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I agree, a coin that raises more questions than it answers. ((What was special about that Thanksgiving? When was it engraved? And why all the mistreatment since then? )) I think it's great that it won't be melted down, which may have happened if its current owner had not stumbled upon it.

 

Yeah, and it had interesting company. Like I said, I spend many, many hours scanning eBay in hopes that I'll find another lot like the one this came from.

 

Good luck, look forward to your future cool finds!

 

Please update this thread once you hear back from PCGS on its authenticity/grade.

 

Hey, if anybody's looking for an already-certified, problem-free example of this coin, one came up on eBay:

1878 Trade Dollar Proof PCGS PR63

It can be yours for $3765, which, if nothing else, certainly defines a ceiling for the value of mine. Let's see, start from $3765, deduct some for the drop from 63 to 35 or so, some more for the hole, some more for the engraving... well, I hope I can at least get melt + the grading fee back out of it...

 

Someone will want it... it's eBay after all.

 

Okay -- drum roll, please, for C-B-D's images of the coin in its new retirement home:



I've never been less disappointed (or less surprised) to receive a details grade.

 

Glad it came back real that was my opinion too

 

Congrats on it being confirmed as a genuine proof

 

Quite a few of us thought it genuine , and are happy it's preserved .

 

Love it! A rescued, long lost proof has been found!

 

This is great!

Seems to me most likely Buffington is the family name as opposed to a location name. I would think there would be more celebrations of the "Smith Thanksgiving" type than the "Palookaville Thanksgiving" type.

 

Ehhh for what it's worth....

http://genforum.genealogy.com/buffington/messages/214.html

 

Very happy it is genuine. It also drips with history.

 

Glad to hear of your positive results. Neat story.

 

Congrats!

Great find

 

That is a silly statement.

Check pop reports on any 1800's proofs and you'll see only a fraction of the total mintages listed.

In fact, it was common to release in the wild proofs that did not sell.

 

Great news. The history behind it has to be really cool.

Looks like most thought it had a good chance at being real.
At the same time that's not the normal here. It seems like folks here are really tough on Trade Dollars and start calling them fake a bit early. Trade dollars are tough because there have been fakes probably all the way back to the first year they were made.

I always wanted to see some of the really early fakes but I guess it's almost impossible to point them out. Fun stuff.

 

Glad it was real--that makes it an interesting coin. Since about 90% of the raw trade dollars are not real (not my percentage, but that of a major grading service), it is a very pleasant surprise.