Hey everyone! As the title of this post suggests, had a great day trolling the foreign silver bin at the LCS. While there were some pretty cool finds, my favorite (and definitely a keeper) is this 1932 20 Centavos: Mintage of only 184,000. I'm guessing this would grade somewhere between an XF and AU (I've seen some uglier XF40's in PCGS slabs, but I'm not sure if that's the actual standard or just if PCGS is bad at grading World Coins...lol) In any case, at silver melt, this is going in the keeper pile. What do you think this would grade? (I'll probably end up sending it in this fall.)
VF at most; the shield is rather smoothed out, and the star's full of bumps. But it is RARE, no question.
I'll also add that the lighting is muting a slight (but present) definition in the high points of the star.
It's also worth noting that Cuba had only ONE year of 25 centavo coin during the 20th Century (1953 Marti), and thus the 20 centavos saw plenty of use and plenty of wear. Most surviving are worn out.
When I saw this coin sitting there, I thought, "Huh...I've never seen a 1932 before...I should probably buy it." Yep. I think I was right about that.
I'd pop that 1932 Cuba on eBay in a flash, and use the proceeds to go buy more foreign silver. Ship only to the United States. Calle Ocho is the heart of the Cuban community in Miami and Hialeah, plenty of Cubans happy to find a keepsake from the old country, even to give to the younger generation who have never set foot in Cuba. Set a high opening bid, it is a KEY date. They can take it or leave it.
Have eBay/PayPal lifted their personal embargo on Cuban coins? Last time I sold someone a few using PayPal...got my account suspended for a few days. PayPal showed their true colors by being very, very rude and pretty indifferent. However, it's a moot point, anyway...because I'm keeping this one.
I thought of that after I posted, although apparently, Cuba is our "buddy" now after O-trauma shook Raul Castro's hand... Certainly you can get into LOTS of trouble selling items from Iran...
Nope - I've sold Iranian coins on eBay...it's a complete double standard against Cuba with no real basis in logic or fact. Actually called eBay and PayPal and they were fine with Iran, even though it's on the same list with Cuba, Syria, North Korea...
I thought if you advertised it as a 'Caribbean' coin and didn't specifically mention Cuba you would be alright. I've been picking up all of the Cuban coins I see lately
I had listed a dozen or so coins from the teens to the 1930's as a world lot. The buyer added "foreign lot + 1 Cuba coin" on his paypal comments. Got red-flagged real quick. Not even silver coins! Just silly clad! What a pain in the arse!
Just an update: grades posted for this coin today. Very pleased with an XF45 grade. Going in the keeper box.
The coin is high relief. That's why the key, palm and star look "worn'. Not worn but weak. Nice grade! Not a 1932, but an example with more detail. How would you grade this one?
