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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ahearn, post: 566881, member: 18211&quot;]There were a lot of complex business negotiations after the El Cazador coins were discovered in 1993. The salvagers tried and failed over a period of years to make a deal to sell the coins. A few leaked out but a bulk sale deal was finally made with Franklin Mint to buy the best of the lot, which they would sell in a variety of formats (singles, multiples, blobs, jewelry, etc.) in nice wooden boxes, NGC slabs, and &quot;certificates of authenticity&quot;. Franklin Mint contracted with QVC to sell the first batches. I bought one (8 reales) of the first ones, overpriced of course, and was pleased with it. My interest is only is historical significance, not investment value.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Franklin has apparently sold most of it&#039;s inventory and now the products are showing up on the seconday market - eBay, ect.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The salvagers also made other deals with other &quot;mints&quot; to sell the lower grade, more corroded coins. GovMint.com (who is the company that is placing all the ads in magazines) is selling two varieties -- highly corroded with no visible date, and a medium corroded version on which the 1783 mint date is clearly visible. However, the marketing agreement is that they can&#039;t use the name of the ship, the El Cazador (because Franklin had exclusive rights), and the coins are being packaged and sold as &quot;America&#039;s First Silver Dollar.&quot; I have bought a few of these, primarily as gifts, and again for the historical value. Actually, I prefer the more corroded versions as they <i>look</i> like they&#039;ve been on the bottom of the ocean for 200 years.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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