The local-to-work pawn shop had this today. They're asking $2999 for it so no sale, but it's the first heavily-worn example I've seen on person. My initial impression was VG at best, but it might be F. The high points were really flat.
Some Kid is gifted his Grandpa's fidget puck And he sells it for pennies on the dollar. I would be a buyer near spot. Did the shop have a weight on the tag?
Wow, that was minted in 1999. So it was never in circulation. I'd have to say it was obviously a pocket piece, or I'd have to question its authenticity. In that condition it appears like someone made a concerted effort to degrade it so drastically. Or, the Chinese thought in that condition it would be a good diversion.
I can't say with any certainty that it is, but that could be one of my old ones Jeff, I did carry a '99. If it is they definitely added some additional carry time because none of the 4 that I ever carried was ever completely covered with all the tiny contact marks that one has. Also possible someone else simply decided to do what I did for a couple of decades or so. Over the years there were a 1,000 or more people who saw and handled the 4 I carried, many of them collectors. And the first 3 of them, I spent those at coin shows. So god only knows where those ended up. The last one, the one you're familiar with, the 2002, that one I sold to a forum member, Arizona Jack. To the best of my knowledge he still has it. Great post though ! It's definitely not something you see every day.
I guess I'll jump in, but I want to stipulate that none of my experience is with "gold" pocket pieces. I have carried various pocket pieces over the last 40 years or so (again, none gold), and none of them have shown the uniformly distressed condition that this piece seems to show. However, I have been known to put coins in the rock tumbler (polisher) in stage 2 with the ceramic media, (yes, I can be coin abuser at times ) and they come out looking exactly like that, especially the copper (those Zincolns won't take much abuse!). So, I am not saying that I think the ASE is artificially "aged", but it looks more like my tumbled coins than my pocket pieces. JMHO
Same here. I bought a 1994 ASE that had been harshly cleaned, and carried it for a number of years. It sustained a little bit of wear on the high spots, but the fields still looked like they'd just been wire-brushed. Apparently I don't move in the right ways, and/or don't have enough dirt in my pockets.
Your posts definitely crossed my mind when I saw it. I'd love for it to go to someone who'll continue carrying it, but I'm sure not paying 20+% over spot for the privilege.
They did not. I'll probably drop by again next week, and if I think about it I'll take my pocket scale. And maybe an unabused AGE for calibration. I thought about pushing the angle of "that thing's worn enough to have LOST WEIGHT, why are you asking more for it than a sealed 24K bar"? Of course, they would've answered "US gold coins are worth more than gold bars". And if I pushed on the weight, they probably would've put it on a scale and said "It's actually still more than one troy ounce!", ignoring the fact that it's only 22K.
I might consider paying full spot by 22K weight for it, but I doubt they'd go for it. I don't know what their margins are like on gold, but I seem to remember back pre-COVID that they were buying 90% silver at around 25% behind spot and selling it at 50% over spot. If they sold this at spot, they'd still be making substantial money, I'm sure. (Although they also used to trot out the line that "if it doesn't move at this price we'll sell it to the refiners", which probably motivates some collectors to save the poor innocent coins from the melting pot...)
