Found a coin I've been wanting for a while that's out of my current budget. It's a shop that I'm very friendly with and he's happy to trade because I'm one of the few customers he has with an interest in foreign. The coin is a 1914 Canada Bank Hoard $10 gold PCGS MS64. The debate I'm having with myself is whether to trade better grade gold or low grade U.S. collectible silver, all raw. 1901 $10 gold, AU55/58 and an 1853 gold $1 in XF45 or so - both high mintage dates Or U.S. 1798 silver $1, G4 and an 1805 half dollar VF and an 1805 dime in P01. My first instinct was to trade the gold since they're not rare but then I thought I'd be better off clearing out the lower grades. Now I've thought too much and need clearer minds. Please tell me your thoughts. Thanks Jim
Which items (in your possession) will be more difficult to replace, the old raw gold or the old raw silver? If they were my coins, I'd probably keep the silver dollar - as it seems to be the more difficult coin to replace and, as such, I'd regret getting rid of it if I changed my mind in the future. Just my two cents worth...
The common gold, unless you purchased the silver at a greater bargain than the gold....a gift or an inheritance or whatever. Plus it's easier to agree on a acceptable value with gold than raw silver. The only reason why silver might be the alternative is if that were the greatest bargain in cost to you... i suspect you were planning to upgrade those early silver coins in the near future. I vote common gold.
So far you guys are echoing my initial thoughts. I don't like getting rid of the real early stuff even when it's low grade or a duplicate. I don't have any real love for the gold; the $10 was just to fill a hole in my type set and the $1 was just a nice coin at a great price. I have another type 1 dollar that might even be the same year. That said, I have MUCH more cash in the gold and I have 2 draped bust dollars-1798 and 1802/1 and 2 1805 half dollars. The crappy 1805 dime is really neither here nor there. However, you guys are right that these coins would be much harder to replace. I'm leaning gold but I'll keep listening. Thank you for your responses.
Given a choice, trade off the hardest things to sell in today's marketplace. Which, down the line, will be the easiest things to (re-) buy.
Thank you all for saving me from my inherent cheapness. The gold is so common and being better grades will be easier for him to sell. Plus I might get a better deal since I got the $10 from him originally.
None of these (what you have or what the dealer has) is rare, so you can wait until you have the cash in-hand.
The generic gold market is DEAD or so it appears that way to me. In order to liquidate gold in that grade, you'll likely take a hit unless you just recently purchased it for the lower prices. If you get a fair price, I would absolutely use those as trade-ins.
