OK, I'm trying to gauge some FUN ideas. Let's say I am willing to spend $3,000 on a Saint-Gaudens. So I'm a wee-bit short of being able to bid on that 1927-D MS-65+ during the show. If you have $3,000 (give-or-take a few $$$, of course) to spend on a Saint, which one would you get ? It could be based strictly on getting the highest grade....population rarity....potential price appreciation...or a combination of any of those factors. Discuss, discuss....
Interesting and you can certainly make a case for going into the low-60's and getting two. I'm sure I won't go that route for me personally, Randy, though it's not wrong for others to do. I really want a nice high-grade coin that is either pretty high grade-wise and/or has scarcity in a bit lower grade. The coin I've been looking at most is a 1923-D.
The double play is not a bad idea right now with such low premiums over spot. I personally nabbed a 1924 for $1510 a few days ago. Given that spot was $1510, that amounted to a 3% premium over melt for a nice type coin. Edit: Forgot to note the grade. My 1924 is PCGS MS-63 in a green label holder.
Unless you're wanting to buy for bullion investment, I'd go for a PCGS 1913-S in MS62. It's one of the lowest mintage saints. A good buy at around $3K (if you can find one). Cal
Nice Job, Paul !! Great pickup and you and others are right...commons in MS63 have super-low premiums relative to gold in absolute and relative (historical) terms. I have a couple of Saints in MS-54, 1924 and 1927.
I'll just add one thing. When you spend that kind of money, make sure you are awed by the coin first regardless of the grade. The most disappointing purchase I ever made was an MS65 Type 1 SLQ. I simply had made up my mind that a high grade Type One was what I had to have and I paid the price for it. It was the most unappealing coin I ever owned. I sold it and purchased an AU58/FH that was a joy to look at for a third of the cost of the MS65..... I'll never again buy a label.
Thanks for the advice, Randy...let me probe a bit....did the coin NOT jump out at you despite MS65 ? Even if it was a bit better, did you look at any AU58's at the same time and say "Hey, for 50% of the cost this lower-graded coin looks 95% as good as the 65" -- maybe it even looked better ?
No sir I did not. At the time I had just returned to collecting from a long hiatus while I raised a family. The whole TPG slabbed phenomenon took place while I was on hiatus so I was uneducated. I wanted a high grade Type 1..... No, I had to have a high grade Type 1. I shopped for the highest grade I could afford and jumped on it. It was dark toned and unattractive and in my mind it grew uglier every day I owned it. I wasn’t on CT yet and was uneducated on current grading standards and I bought the label. Simple as that. It drove me to get educated on TPG standards and got me here to CT. I will never ever again buy a label. That I can guarantee.
A 07 in 65 or an o8 no motto in 66 I like the no motto design the best. And the 07 not a real high mintage and preferably with a cac sticker
You nailed it on price and mintage, Cal. From a recent HA sale: "With a mintage of only 34,000 pieces, the 1913-S double eagle is a better date in all grades. This was the second-lowest mintage recorded at any mint for the series, not counting the High Relief type. Only the 1908-S (22,000 pieces struck) boasts a lower production total."
I agree with @Randy Abercrombie but would take it a step further. Find yourself two nice AU 58s. One with a motto and one without a motto. That way you have two nice eye appealing coins who did their job circulating as intended and have a story. You will have one of each type which I find more worthwhile than one key date. If gold goes up you have 2x increase vs the odds of hoping the key date goes up enough to make it a wash against the two. I also feel that if you needed to get rid of either of the 58s there is more of a market of buyers than there would be with a high grade gem at $3k plus.
I agree here. The higher you go up in price, the smaller the market of buyers gets. I would recommend (2) AU58s as well. However, one cannot overlook the beauty of a MS62 or MS63...
I'd love to get a CAC sticker on some coins, and if it means dropping down a grade and still finding a coin I like and agree with the grade, I'm not averse to doing that. Depending on the price jump 1 grade higher, figure most of the time with the Saints I am looking at (commons or fairly-commons) a CAC sticker adds about 20% to the price at the MS levels I am hunting at.
Great post....I am partial to looking at the AU58's for those coins and for others, esp. if I can't afford something MS65/64 or higher. It's NOT as clear-cut with coins as with bills, where many times the initial look of the 58's is much better than the 60-63's....but sometimes those AU58 coins are better looking and the reason they are 58's might not matter look-wise compared to coins graded a few grades higher. And even if they are NOT better-looking at first glance, they might very well be a better buy for the buck. Interesting perspective....somewhat nicer than a story where a nice Saint spend the last 100 years in a velvet pouch and then a TPG slab. Coin-flip (no pun intended !) on selling a highere-end coin vs. 2 medium cost coins. But from a diversification perspective you are spot-on regarding havein 2 coins vs. 1 coin.
Just to update this thread from earlier in the year.....I ended up with an 1923-D MS66 for $3,500 (no CAC). CAC's or 66+ coins were another $1,000 to $2,00 higher or so at the show.
