My latest snag at the coin shop

All right, a bit of a back story here. About four months ago I was at my local dealer's and he showed me a set of coins he was about to purchase from a man who attempted to build a date set, got frustrated and quit, only to get rid of the coins years later at a profit since he couldn't finish the set. No wonder he couldn't finish, the set consisted of 9 $3 coins all purchased sometime in the 70's based on the prices written on the 2x2s to our nearest best guess. After looking through the coins, I asked him what kind of offers he was considering on the lowest grade of the bunch an 1870 in VF, the coin pictured below. He said and I quote, "I'm making out like a bandit here on the rest of these, so I can let you have it for, say...$500" Instant shock set in followed by a $200 down payment. I walked in this morning, paid the balance and brought it home. The only major drawback on the coin I could find was a crush mark or ding on the rim, seen in the picture between 11-12 on the obverse and 6-7 on the reverse. The pictures were taken under florescent light, the first one with the flash on. What do yall think?

 

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wow, awesome!!

 

A very nice coin! You was at the right place at the right time.
One question, could this be a proof?

 

I think you got a great deal. Congrats. That's a great coin to own.

 

Very cool. deffinatly a desirable coin to have at a bargain price.Thats one of three I need for my gold denomination set. If you want to make a quick buck (Just one) let me know.

Congrats on your new gold.:high5:

 

Good Deal!

 

Gold right?
Is it a full ounce? I have no idea if that is a good buy or not.

 

yes gold, .1451 oz, but the $3 is really difficult to attain as less than 550,000 were minted during the entire run of the series 1854-1889, and then you have to account for all the pieces that have been lost, destroyed, smelted, turned to jewelry, etc. It makes for quite high prices on them

 

Okay, I'll say it:

Are you sure about the piece?
The fields look a little funky to me.

 

It does look awful pitted

 

If it's the shop (Omaha) I think, then the piece is genuine with the marks possibly from simple circulation. Maybe cleaned at some point but they are solid sellers.

Take Care
Ben

 

Very nice coin, I'm in the market for one of these. My concern is that the coin looks bent. There appears to be a large "bow" in the field in front of liberty's face from 9clock to 12oclock. You can see the opposite of the depression from the reverse, and the rim crush somewhat signals this. I have a $1 gold piece with a similar look. It looks genuine to me and is a nice find and I believe is one of the tougher dates. Congrats!

 

I am sorry to say but that coin doesn't look authentic to me, and at best the surfaces have been manipulated. Look closely for a casting line along the edge, or tooling marks trying to hide it.

 

Sheesh. I hope for the OPs sake that you are wrong leadfoot. This would be like deja vu. The $3 gold is highly counterfeited, as I unfortunately know by experience. With a very low mintage of 3,500, and a much smaller survival rate; there are probably more fakes of these than real ones floating around. I would get it checked out ASAP to be sure.

 

for those with concerns, the coin is within acceptable tolerances for weight, diameter is correct. there are no tooling marks on the edge, neither is the coin bent, that I can tell, if it is then its negligible. The coin looks much better in hand as I have a hard time taking pictures in natural or incandescant lighting so I use flores light for most of my pics, which on gold tends to amplify imperfections and natural wear. The coin looks much better in hand, and my dealer, another dealer, and I all agreed that it was authentic. It also had the added benefit of being in the 2x2 it was sold in from a local area shop that is still in business and the price of $290.00, which is why we guessed it was purchased in the early 70's. Since I am on a limited budget for coins, (this coin alone ate up a large portion of this years budget) I am very careful and picky about what I buy.

 

Paging Mr. Feld. Would Mark Feld please report to this thread.....

 

Nice deal BQ!!

Thumbs up Sir!!


RickieB

 

p.s. does the coin pass the "ring" test?

 

yes, it rang sweet when it slipped through my fingers on to my table at home.

 

BQ,
That is one exceptional coin! Congratulations on your timing and quickness of acquisition.
I haven't researched these coins. The reverse is one of the nicest I have seen in US designs. The cornucopia style wreath is beautiful.
Congrats!

jeankay