Does anyone have an idea what something like this might be worth? I usually try to stick to American coins but tonight for some reason I had to pick this up. Got it for 20 bucks hope it's worth asleast that. Thanks for the help 1996 3 dollar Bermuda silver proof
Bermuda, 1996, KM#92, metal- .925 silver, proof, low mintage- 5,000 grade proof 65 = $60.00 in my 2016 krause catalog. nice coin. hopefully those scratches are on the airtite and not on the actual coin. if it has scratches it will be worth less. nice low mintage. nice bargain. another interesting aspect of this coin is that it is 3-sided.
Fun piece from the "Bermuda Triangle" series. Since your proof is slightly impaired with minor hazing and hairlines (both commonly seen on these after they've been removed from the mint packaging), it will not be worth the Krause catalog values @spirityoda quoted. But I'd say you did pretty well for twenty bucks. Neat pickup. I'd love to have one of the gold ones.
PS- actually, it does look sort of like most of the hairlines there are on the plastic, eh? All the better, if that's the case.
Thanks for the help guys. Luckily the scratches are on the air tight. The coin is flawless other than the toning it's getting naturally. I'm glad my instincts were right about picking this beauty up.
then it is worth maybe $40-50. the weight of this coin is 20.00g or 0.5948 oz. you can get a new plastic outside airtite for that coin, just keep the black spongey part because that looks custom to/for that coin. have gloves on when you get it out so that you do not get finger prints on the coin.
I might replace the airtight not sure on my direction. It's definitely a cool little guy glad I jumped on it. For 20 bucks.
Or, wash your hands, drop that puppy out and give it a dip, rinse it thoroughly and put it in the new airtite.
Many people will advise you to "go with your gut feeling" when it comes to choosing to buy a coin or not. Looks like your gut told you right this time! I would have snapped it up too, never seen one of those before.
Everyone seems to have a different recipe, but for proof coins I use a product called MS-70 mixed with water 50/50. It just takes a quick dip and a rinse with distilled water to remove the haze.
Be very careful dipping proof coins, or handling them at all. While that one could benefit from a quick dip and thorough rinse to remove some of the haze, I'm not so sure I'd try. As @Kirkuleez mentioned, you can use a commercial coin cleaner "dip" - (I use "EZ-Est" on the rare occasions I dip coins), dilute it 50% with distilled water, dip the coin, then rinse it thoroughly with distilled water and let it dry on a paper towel (no rubbing, or you'll hairline it- proof coins have more delicate surfaces than regular Mint State business strikes do). But it's really not that bad as-is. I still don't think I'd call it worth the $60 Krause value, but for $20, you did great. I suppose you could try polising the outside of the plastic with some kind of plastic polish. Or just get a new AirTite holder.
OK, I say "wash your hands" because it is sooooooo easy to get skin oils on pristine coins and that would ruin them. Next, my favorite dip (apart from French Onion) is eZest which contains sulfuric acid and thiourea. Sounds scary...it should, be careful if you plan to do it. I have a small plastic "basket" that came from a jewelry dip I bought sometime in the past that I use to dip the coins. After washing your hands, take the coin by the edges and hold it in running water that is as hot as you can easily stand. After it is thoroughly wet, place it in something you can dip into the container of eZest for less than a second. Remove it and hold it under the running hot water for a minute or so, rinse with distilled water, place on a clean, soft cloth and blot off the water. Stop...repeat if necessary...harder to describe it than to do it.
This. Sound advice. The part about "handling by the edges only" is always good practice, but vital on proof coins, due to the "skin oils" issue @Kentucky mentioned. Proofs are extremely susceptible to fingerprints. I like the plastic "basket" idea and will maybe use that next time I have to dip something. (I like French Onion dip, too, FWIW.)
Looks great. A teeny bit of hazy toning, but no big deal. I agree with @spirityoda. Leave it as-is. Buy a new holder for it. Again- nice pickup for twenty bucks!