Recently I in herited this gold coin from my grandfather. It being my first gold coin acquired, quite by surprise. My father bought it from a local coin shop in late 1999 or 2000, he couldn't remember exactly. Notice the "original" price of 250.00? It's what dad said he paid for it. He then gave it to my grandfather whom left it tto me. I do know that the U.S. Mint didn't quite mint a half million gold coins from 1866-1879. At least that is what my research indicated. I'd like to preserve this coin and eventually move it out of this casing it is in. I thought of grading it via NGC. I have not decided. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.
Nice coin and priceless from your Grand Dad , I'd put it in a hard holder like Interceppt Shield or Airtites , I like the look of the Intercept Shield holders more than the round Airtites . I wouldn't gt it graded because it was a gift and is now a family heirloom . Slabs are good protection but the others I mentioned are just as good since I doubt you're going to ever sell it , why pay to have it graded . Rusty
Save your money. It is a circulated, common date coin. The value from VF to MS-60 changes very little so it really would not pay off to have it graded. I don't know where you got your information but the Mint struck a lot more than 500,000 coins over those 14 years. The coin you have has a mintage of 384,740 alone. The 1879 Half Eagle has a mintage of 301,920 and the 1879 Double Eagle has a mintage of 207,600. Those three issues alone are over 800,000 - well over 500,000.
Thanks everyone for such quick responses. As I said I wasn't sure about those minting figures, other than the 384,740 for the year coin I have. Also thanks for the advice about proper storage for a coin like this. I got that information from coinlink. It states: "The total number of eagles minted each year for the first decade was small and not until 1879 did the combined production from all mints in any one year exceed one half million coins. For several years after 1879 eagle mintage exceeded one million coins although for many years the total from individual mints often was less than 100,000 pieces. Liberty Head Motto coins produced from 1866 through 1879 are generally more expensive than those from 1880 through 1907, even at lower grades. Few Mint State and finer coins from this early period have been certified, with near-Gem and finer rare and expensive. Coins dated 1880 and later and relatively affordable up to grades of near-Gem, except for most Carson City and some New Orleans and San Francisco issues which are typically higher priced. Virtually all near-Gem and Gem coins from this period are expensive, as is the 1873 Closed 3 variety."
