My mother came into a sizeable coin collection. I am holding part of it and finding out about how to deal with it. In the course of that I am finding that it is an interesting hobby and the coins are fascinating. I may even attempt to purchase them from her if we can get a sense of value. What I have are 93 double eagles that were purchased in the early 60s. They were in their same slips as when they were purchased (even including receipts), and the list below includes any notes that were written on the holders. It seems that these coins can be worth a little over their bullion value, but could be worth much more depending upon condition. My ability to grade a coin is limited, but one question is how do the ratings of BU or AU from the 60s relate to the current grading system? Another question is does the collection have more value than the sum of the individual coins? And lastly (for now), what should I do next to determine value? It's a valuable collection to be walking down the street with, and I am leery of mailing the coins off for grading. Thanks for your help, Dave (see list below) 1 1856 S 1 1861 G 21 14 1 1863 S G 21 14.6 1 1865 S 1 1868 S G 1 1869 S XF 1 1870 S 1 1871 1 1872 S 1 1873 XF 1 1873 1 1875 S 1 1875 S XF 1 1876 S XF 1 1877 S F 1 1878 S 1 1879 S B 1 1880 S VF 13 1 1880 S XF 1 1881 S VF 1 1882 S AU 1 1883 S AU 1 1884 1 1884 S 1 1885 S 1 1887 S 1 1888 S 1 1889 S XF 2 1890 S 1 1890 CC B 1 1891 S 1 1892 S 1 1893 S 3 1894 1 1895 1 1895 S 2 1896 1 1897 2 1897 S 1 1898 S 1 1899 3 1900 1 1901 1 1902 S B 1 1903 1 1904 1 1904 S B 1 1905 S B 1 1906 S 1 1907 S.G. 1 1907 LIB 1 1907 1 1907 S AU 1SSS 13 1 1907 S XF 1SSS 13 1 1907 D B 1 1908 NM BU CSSS 1 1908 1 1908 UNC NO MOTTO 1 1909 S B 1 1910 S B 1 1910 D 1 1910 1 1911 S 1 1911 D 1 1912 L4 XF 21 15.2 1 1913 D U,AU 1 1914 S 1 1914 D 1 1914 1 1915 S 1 1916 S B 1 1920 G 1 1922 1 1923 D 1 1923 2 1924 G 1 1924 1 1925 G 1 1926 G 4 1927 G 1 1927 1 1928 G
That seems to be an incredible collection. I'm working on a date set of my own but you have a far better start at it that I...lol. Type I and Type II DE run about 1,200-900 each for AU50-58 grades give or take. Type I is 1850-1865. Type II is 1866-1876. Most of the Type III series are plentiful in high grades. Most have been sitting in European vaults untouched since they were minted and the same with most of the Saints. Type II is 1877-1907 and Saints run from 1907-1928 for the average saint collector. Type II and Saints run about 700-900 for MS61-62 grades but there are some more expensive in the series. There are several good books on DE. One by David Bowers called US Double eagles or something similar should be searchable on Amazon and ofcourse the redbook. Both books have prices but are not valid today but can give you an idea of prices. I use ebay as a gauge for current trends in pricing. DE are very plentiful on Ebay. There are also three independent books one each on type I, II and III DE that might be out of print but used ones can be found on Amazon also. Personally, I buy very little raw gold (raw as in not graded by NGC or PCGS) I've been burned by fakes to often to trust anyone selling raw these days. You might think about looking them over and picking some of the cleaner ones to have graded. By all means don't send off the entire lot ...lol. I think the value will be in individual coins but not having a look at them it's tough to tell. Personally, I'm working on a MS set for type 3 and Saints and an AU-58 set of type I and II. If your grades are all over the spectrum, I cant see much interest in the lot as a collection but thats just my presonal preference. Running some rough guestimates, you might have yourself a $75,000.00 and up collection on your hands.
Thanks for your advice and comments. I'll look up the DE book. You said Type II did you mean that Type III is from 1877 to 1907? I'm a little confused by the Type terminology for DE but the book will help I'm sure. I'll post some photos of two in a bit that I have here and see what you think of their specific grade.
If you do a few google search you can find some background material. For example: http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com/coin_articles/liberty_head_type_1_in_history.htm Yes that was a typo on my part Type III is 1877-1907. The types are pretty straight forward: Type I no motto, Type II with motto and Twenty D on reverse, Type III twenty D is replaced with Twenty Dollars spelled out.
1882 and 1908 pics New to this, lets see if I can get these pics up. If this works what do you think of these coins and their grade? Thanks
Nice pictures. The 1908 No Motto is one of my favorites. I'd love to see some pics of the earlier dates.
If you mail some of the coins registered insured then you don't have to worry about sending them in to be graded. It takes a while to get there but it is the safest way to send coins.
Thanks to all for your welcome and grading comments. I wish these were mine too! Andrew, I'll get some out of the SD box and photo some more. The pics turned out okay but the color tone isn't coming through. In real life the coins have a beautiful luster and glow to them. Holding them is a treat, they are a chunk of beautiful gold with a great history. I love to think of the days when you would go into a tavern and plunk one down as legal tender. I think I've got a touch of gold fever. treashunt, you are funny. Anybody else on the grading for those two? Someday I'll tell you the story of bringing those coins across the border a few months ago ...
Welcome aboard! Your collection is enviable-- especially that 1908. We're all friends here, but the forum is open to lurking and so I would advise being careful with "too much information" that would make you personally identifiable. Which means I second Treashunt's opinion, and that's all I will say. Very glad to have you!
