whats up guys? long time no see well im in a little trouble here my uncle has this desk with this plastic covering over it and in it are these old coins (Ive seen the desk before and have no idea if the coins are permanently in the plastic or holes are made to fi the coins) and my uncle wanted me to find out if its a good idea to hack into the desk for the coins and see whats salvagable. These are a couple of descriptions given to me to try and find something out. 1) An Oregon Exchange Co. 20 cent "Native Gold Tend"----I already know its pioneer gold but I need more info. 2) SMV Cal Gold, Five Dollars-----Im completely lost here 3) Carol Hill DC Dispet(last three letters I cant make out), 1792---LOST!!! 4) There are 2 hands shaking, it says pure gold, 10 dollars, 1849---Nothing I got most of the others made out already, but these 4 are driving me crazy! I have borrowed the 2003 Red Book, the Blackbook Price Guide to United States Coins-2003, and the North American Coins and Prices-2003. I have no idea where to look in these books or if they're even in there. ANY websites would be greatly appreciated or please tell me where to look in these books. Any of-hand knowledge would also be appreciated. Thank you ------------------------------------------------------------------------- So how is everyone? Football is slowly winding down so Ill be on a lot more now. Good to see CT is growing
alrighty next step anyone know how to safely remove these coins? I called by uncle for a little more info and he said to asume they are in the lacker (SP?) or varnish or whatever they are in. Any ideas or stratigies to safely do this?
Howdy Spider... I would guess that they are tokens...and maybe plated with gold if anything...I can't say for sure untill some photos---I say it would be hard and maybe no way to remove them without them being damaged more than they are now... Speedy
Howdy Spider - where ya been ?? You're not gonna like hearing this - but here goes. Some of the coins you are describing, if genuine, are worth tens of thousands of dollars. That coin with the shaking hands - that's a Mormon $10 gold piece. For genuine examples you could name your price. Combine that with the Cal. gold you describe and you can bet they are all replicas. Sorry pal - nobody but nobody would put coins like that in a desktop
ehhh, at football mostly, but whats slowing down so I have more time now to come on here and chat ya thats what i was thinking. I found a price for the Oregon and it was atleast 22 grand for fine. The only thing is now I gotta tell my uncle about it. I already warned him about fakes but he really didnt like the sound of it.
Tell him to look at it this way - there is some great history there in that desktop. For instance - explain to him that the 1849 Mormon gold was issued when Utah wasn't even Utah - it was a sovereign nation known as The State of Deseret. The US Govt. even sent a General Johnson with an army to reclaim it for the US. The other pieces all have history too, but I'll let you look those up
You need to talk to a pro, Don't mess around with this stuff until you know what you are doing. The Mormon piece, if real, is worth a bundle!!! You do not want to do anything that would damage the coins. You need to research this with a coin conservation expert like Sue Maltby. You could destroy a fortune if those things are not just copies. Have Fun and Good Luck, Bill
Hi, By the way, you might be surprised what ended up laquered into desks and bar tops all over the country. Silver dollars and rare gold has been found encased in just such a way. Remember that some of these were $50.00 coins 80 years ago. Have Fun, Bill
ya but the one thing that really stumps this all is that there is a 2nd desk just like this one but I believe has different coins in it if im not mistaken. This isnt a newly purshased desk or anything but I know its not really old because it was in use like 20 years ago. One coin that I know thats in there is a 1850 Liberty Head 10 dollar gold coin but I have no idea if its real or not. Shouldnt the coins say fake on their if they are fake?
I think the Hobby Protection Act was passed in 1974. Replicas and copies made before then did not have to have the word copy on them. Charlie
Yes they have been Bill, I've seen quite a few of them myself. But what are the coins worth after such treatment ? With every one I've ever seen liquid lucite was poured onto the desktop or bar encasing the coin. For all intents and purposes - the coins are ruined forever. Now I will grant you - if the coins were genuine, they would still have some value if you could manage to dig them out the lucite, laquer or whatever it is without destroying them. And you certainly could not tell if they were genuine without removing the coins for examination, weighing etc. In any case - I've never seen coins like the ones described here on any bar or desk. In all cases they were rather common coins. However - anything is possible - just not probable.
I don't know, I have a couple theories about how to safely remove coins that have been encased in lucite. I need to buy a couple cheap paperweights and see what I can do.
Welcome back Spider LOL....I guess if you could prove any of them genuing, you could always carefully cut then out and then market them as the latest and greates air tight holders (j/k) looking forward to the picts.
