I have done my research. I have narrowed down some common dates to watch for. I am only going to buy in person if my novice eye likes the look. I want graded AU 58 to MS 63 (my budget). I plan to never sell and want to hand down to son (30 or more years). I am all about the history. Side note. I don't plan to add a second one bu rather move on to another coin. I want to pass on a variety of coins and not build a series. Again my focus is on coin history. I have been tracking eBay sales to get trends and I am prepared to go 20% over spot Questions 1. For a common in stated range what would be your upper and lower range over spot IF it looks good? 2. NGC or PCGS for this gold coin. I don't want a Chinese knock off so legit coin is more important on small difference in grading. In the end some 30 to 50 years later it will be sold Thanks
A good choice would be a somewhat rarer date in MS62 with good eye appeal. My favourite saint is a 1920 or a 1910, both philies. There is no extra cost in this condition.
So if I went to any coin shop and offered 10% over with room to move to 15% would that allow the dealer a fair profit (assuming he acquired under spot)
All depends on the shop, some shops are willing to operate on low margins while others need high margins. Personally I use multiple forums to find most of my purchases, the prices are way better than my local coin shops. (we also have sales tax in my state which makes things even worse)
What is special about these? Were they sharper strikes or some history item behind them making them interesting?
If you are building a set to hand down to another generation then brace yourself mightily to be disappointed.
Not looking to build a set but rather one maybe two (motto and no motto) I want to hand down an example of several old coins so key date and MS 65 aren't important to me. For me I appreciate the history and beauty and I would hope to pass that on to my son. If it doesn't pass on to him then I want something that he can have as value to turn into paper money to get something he values more than the coins. Why would I be disappointed? price? challenge?
I see and read about this situation with more frequency than might be expected. In general, there are two likely scenarios when building a collection for a future generation- 1) The intended recipient has little, if any, interest in coins and thus does not appreciate the time, effort or expense put into the collection. Some of these folks feel obligated to attempt to continue the collection while others store it without thought. Either way, the collection and resources serve little purpose other than satisfying the person who built the collection. 2) The intended recipient has little, if any, interest in coins and only sees the money that the coins can be turned into when liquidated. A fair number of folks who fall into this category will sell at the first offer and receive cents on the dollar. Of course, the third option is that the recipient immediately or eventually appreciates the gift and it brings them joy or financial benefit. However, think about what your folks were interested in and then determine which of their interests has sparked a flame in you. Anything? Probably not. I tell folks who want to leave coins to their kids to think about leaving bullion that is easily liquidated and has values that can be determined quickly and by most anyone.
West, with the drop in gold whatever money you were willing to spend a few days or a few weeks ago should go even further. Since you are looking to only get 1 Saint (for now), I would probably buy the best quality coin you can get. That means buying one of the common years. I think you can get one of the 1924 or 1927 Saints in MS-65 quality for not much more than you would have paid a few weeks ago for an MS-63. Even if you have to pay a bit more than the spot gold price. If you are insistent on going by the premium to bullion, then you are probably going to max out at MS-63 or so. That's not a bad coin but my experience is if you are buying a common, buy the best. Unless you want to go for a rarer strike and go for a mid-AU grade. Whatever you think is best for you....let us know which way you want to go and we can probably tell you pricing. Might pay to give us an absolute $$$ amount....gold today is at $1,160/oz.
If the dealer got the coin a long time ago, then he might have room to be flexible. The problem is for months and years the price of gold has been FALLING so anybody with older inventory probably cannot cut because they are losing money. They're gonna hope the price of gold moves back up. They reprice bullion daily or weekly but not numismatics.
He'll be cutting it close for an MS-63 for either coin....right above that, the price jumps astronomically as condition rarity hits big-time.
