I acquired a 1991 Gold Eagle, the $25 dollar one, recently and never have even thought about coins besides the ones i use for currency. I didnt know what to do with this thing and I just wanted money. I researched into how much its worth (thanks ebay!) and found it selling for like up to 800 bucks. I got my friend to take me to this coin dealer, which was a very shady store, and he told me he'd buy it for $190 right then and there. Of course I didnt buy it, and told him I'd sell it for $500. He tried to make me lower the price but I didnt give in and he ended up doin it anyway. Was it stupid for me to do that? Now that I went on this forum, I started wondering whether that was a stupid idea of me to do. This coin business is lookin like a fun hobby, and a profitable one i might add. Whats your opinion of this situation? Should I have kept the coin?
Howdy roman736 - Welcome to the Forum !! Sounds to me like ya did better than good - you did great ! I would have sold it in a New York second But what I want to know is why he paid so much for it ? But I certainly would not expect it to happen again. You see - the price of the coin should have been about $225 - $250. Now once in a while on ebay - you can sell the 1/2 oz AGE for a nice premium - if it is slabbed by one of the major grading companies and has an ultra-high grade like MS70. But that's about it. If the coin were un-slabbed - never happen, not for that price.
^^ because it was dated 1991, which is more rare. He looked it up in some big book with greyish pages and said that the coin was listed to be worth $600 in there. But I figured he'd be ok with making like $100 bucks.
many collectors fall into the idea that American Eagles be they Silver, Gold, or Plantinum are date driven. This is not the case. Lone exception 1995-W ASE. All others are bought and sold for a percentage near bullion. If anyone is paying twice the value of the metal content, well............
Nd - roman736 does have a point to a degree. And the date does matter. '91 is one of the years for the lower mintages of the $25 AGE. And there are collectors who will pay more for these low mintage years. I never doubted that - because I used to be one of them My surprise was that this person was willing to pay that much for a raw AGE - for normally it only happens with the slabbed MS70 coins. The MS69 coins bring a premium as well - but no where near what the 70's do. And typically - raw examples of the low mintage years only bring small premiums. Just this week and last I completed the sale of the last of my examples. My MS70 $25 AGE's all brought $400 or more each. And the 7 lowest mintage years of the $5 AGE's brought almost $1200 - and not all of them were MS70. So yes - it most definitely happens and it is common.
GD, I agree that MS or PR 70 command nice premiums as they are perfect. Sorry GD. I guess that I am just tired. I apologize for my rudeness.
I musta missed something - when were you rude Anybody here can ALWAYS disagree with me - especially you Nd. I'm not always right - lord knows I make my share of mistakes and then some. But right or wrong - disagreement is not being rude in my book
