http://www.pocketchangelottery.com/article108.htm Decent article, wish I would have read it right when I started collecting.
Took the quiz. Nice questions with many difficult ones. got 14/20. I guess my guessing is pretty good. Very informative reading also
This artilce was printed out long ago and put where I can read it....a good article...I would suggest any collector read it. Speedy
I got 75% on the test....some I disagree with... Like this one... 19. If gold is valued at $500 per troy ounce, what would be the bullion value of a Saint-Gaudens double eagle? (A) $464.40 (B) $474.07 (C) $483.75 (D) $493.42 (E) $503.10 They say C....I would have thought E.... Speedy
Nice site, but didn't like the math of this statement in the quiz: 65 out of 100 should not be considered as good as 65 out of 70, lol...
$503.10 would mean that the coin contains more than 1oz. of pure gold (if gold is going for $500/oz.). I haven't read the whole article, but I have an issue with a couple points already in Myth #1... Ahhh, the dealer "grossly overcharged customers" ... according to whom and what magic, all knowing guide? "Multiples of their fair market value" and "fairly priced" is all so interesting, and while I realize there are price *GUIDES* (note: not price bibles), and it's conforting to use these, it makes me shake my head when I read someone coming down on a dealer for "grossly overcharged customers" as if they are the price police. "Fair price" is highly subjective, and just because someone sells on the high end of the price scale doesn't mean they are overcharging people. With just about anything you buy (beds, alarm clocks, etc.), you could find that item at low and high prices depending on where you shop. Again, buyer beware. If you don't know what you're buying and you're willing to pay hundreds of dollars for it, then I'd be more than happy to sell you that nickel. I love the, "NGC took an important stance..." and then, "...but later lifted the ban." Guess it wasn't so important of a stance, eh? Note: Author states, "Shortly after NGC's founding in 1987, I worked there for three years as a part-time grader." I will read the rest of this article without commenting on all of it point by point, but so far, half way through point #1, it's bird cage liner. Hopefully it will improve and there will be something useful.
The coin is 96.75% of an ounce of gold. Of course, it's somewhat misleading because it also depends on the condition of the coin. (C) might be the correct answer for an uncirculated coin, but (B) might be the answer for a heavily circulated coin.
OK, Myth #5 contains a rather funny bit relating to my last post... Somewhat contradictory to Myth #1, but that's all you have to do... "look in a price guide to be sure you're not overpaying." Next Myth will be that buying slabbed coins doesn't protect you from inaccurate price guides. Silly really. EDIT: That's covered in Myth #7
The question was what is the bullion value - it has nothing to do with the coin's condition. The question is to see if the reader knows the AGW.
Well if you look in a Greysheet (the price guide ) and the Ask for a MS64 coin is $280 - and the dealer's price is $350 - then you know you are paying too much and can likely find the same coin elsewhere for less. As for the previous comment, if the dealer is asking $875 for a coin that is listed in the Greysheet for $280 - then you know you are paying multiples of actual value and should walk out of the shop as fast as you can.
The number of grams of gold in a heavily circulated coin will be fewer than in an uncirculated coin. This is something an investor would probably think about that a pure collector would not. So the design weight bullion value may differ from the actual bullion value.
Even with a very, heavily circulated coin - I have yet to see one that lost 1 gram of weight. A fraction of a gram yes - more than that, I've never seen it.
I have to admit I don't weigh coins [but maybe I should]. I believe silver coins have 723.38 ounces of silver per $1,000 face value by design, but seem to sell on the basis of 710 to 715 ounces when sold as junk silver. So that's 1 or 2 percent lost through wear, which is less than a gram, as you pointed out. I don't know if gold coins lose more since the metal is pretty soft.
