Hi there, Welcome to coin talk. Are you referring to these types of coins? if you are These coins are not used in circulation.... just for bullion collector's and some coin collector's.( they could be worn out because they were used as a pocket piece) Below: Silver Eagle If you are referring to the walking liberty half's..... they were minted for circulation Below: Walking liberty Half
And years ago when they were just bullion coins (and not really considered to be "collectable' coins) and only worth their silver value, a lot of people like to (GASP) handle them.
I have a few ASEs (American Silver Eagles FYI OP) that have a worn appearance. I forget where I got them. My original 1986 ASE came to me from a coin dealer friend in Minnesota who had it placed in a poorly made plastic holder that also had a nice Walking Liberty Half alongside it. This sat in a desk drawer some 30 years, I guess, and when I finally found it during a hunt for something else, the coins had tarnished.
I saw one in the till at a liquor store in Anderson, IN about 2007ish. I asked the clerk if i could give him a dollar for it and he let me buy it.
The "circulated" ASEs are the ones that get painted and other third party stuff done to them or dropped /damaged. Then the buyers get tired of the painted ones and sell them for a BIG loss. They may then get cleaned (from the paint or stickers, etc) and end up being called "Circulated". You can get them closer to spot than uncirculated ones. Providentmetals.com has them but I don't see any right now. Apmex.com has a current listing for them ==> https://www.apmex.com/product/6912/1-oz-silver-american-eagle-cull-damaged-etc But because you buy them as damaged/cull ASEs they will *never* be anything but damaged/cull ASEs. So don't expect them to suddenly increase in value because you think you got a deal and no one knows any better; except for the newbies that don't know any better.
Awhile back, I walked into a Chase bank and asked the teller for "half dollars and any dollar coins" and she pulled out a roll of Washington dollars and 2 silver eagles. That's the only time I've ever paid face for eagles.
I never knew that. I could see myself turning into a gambler with machines that have ASE’s as a prize.
Yep, the industry would probably have to name them as $20 slot machines. Funny when you remember that old people would sit at the slots for hours with cups full of nickels or dimes. The slot machines at local casinos used to use the Presidential Dollar coins. About 2 years ago these were abandoned and replaced by tokens. This has the added advantage to the gambling industry of nudging a gambler into using them all instead of cashing them back in before he/she leaves the casino. I had seen many a presidential coin in supermarkets that had come from local casinos for a while. When some casinos were using Morgan and Peace Dollars in their machines back in the Sixties, they would drill holes into the coins in order to keep patrons from not putting them all into the slot machines. That could put an end to using that size coin if all the coin collectors came to get a silver dollar for face value. In fact, I took two that had escaped the drill back then.
