The King of all sets.

Normally I do not plug another dealer or their holdings, but this is an exception. Making the news in the trade publications, the 1834 set known as the King of Siam set is available. The story of this famed set can be read on the site. The set is currently available for the pultry sum of $10 Million.

http://goldbergcoins.com/kingofsiam/

 

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What, no COA?

 

ordered mine today. hopefully it will be on its way in the next decade or two. thanx for the read nd. pretty interesting...

 

What is amazing is that Bill Gates or Warren Buffet could buy the set without putting a material dent in their wealth!! Jerry Buss might buy the set -- I heard he is into coins. He could buy it with the money he saves by trading Shaq!!

 

Really is a beautiful set, but what I would like to know is how the grades have have gotten better over the past fifteen years? And are cameos kinda like cicadas?

 

Though I can't deny the importance of this set in US numismatic history, I get kinda queasy when I read the hype. Not as bad as the 33 double eagle, but almost.

 

How the grades get better? Easy answer. The grading system is based on market conditions. Despite what many claim, it is, it was, and it will be.

 

All the more reason to never PAY someone for thier OPINION that will change tomorrow. Grading services are good for authentication only.

(but it still is a beautiful set!!)

 

Sometimes coins need to be re-evaluated. As more is learned about planchets, strikes, design elements, and other little factors, things can change. While I do not agree with market grades, we must deal with what we have.
This set is one of the original three made, with the noted (see GDJMSP post) exception. Should sell quickly.

 

What really peaves me is the Audacity of PCGS to state that Slabbing the set will inprove (increase) it's value.....

There are not many more beautiful sites in the coin world than seeing the set in it's original box.

....One Old Man's Opinion.....

 

In my opinion, you're partially right. I prefer the look of a well presented, unslabbed set, but I can't deny today's market realities.

If you're building a set for personal enjoyment, and you have no plans to ever sell, I agree -- aesthetically, I just prefer a well presented set of unslabbed coins.

But if you're concerned about resale, if you have a coin that's worth hundreds of dollars or more -- and sometimes as little as $50 or so -- the extra value you get from the sale of a coin certified by a respected grading service will usually more than offset the cost of slabbing it. That's because the added confidence buyers have in the coins you're offering will often result in a higher bid or offer.

In a perfect world, where all coins are sold as -- and priced as -- the quality that the consensus of experienced impartial graders would assign it, I'm totally with you. But grading is subjective and subject to manipulation, and there are plenty of hucksters out there who would try to sell AUs at just under "BU" prices and sell them as BU. This is especially problematic when a person new to the hobby starts buying and finds out shortly after their first purchase that he/she was burned, and that the bargain "BU" coin they bought was a slider or a cleaned XF.

Many people drop out of the hobby when that happens to them, particularly when it's among their early experiences. It's these experiences that also drives the belief that dealers are a bunch of cheats that buy an AU coin as an XF and sell it as "BU."

Yes, some dealers do that. And they pollute the numismatic gene pool; ethical dealers hate that more than anyone as their reputation is often dragged down in the process. Many newbies to numismatics leave after such bad experiences. That can reduce the demand (and value) of the coins the dealers -- ethical and otherwise -- are selling in the marketplace, and it reduces the vitality of the hobby.

And that's why in today's market, even if you don't like its effect on the presentation of a collection, slabbing can be a necessary evil. Yes, I'd MUCH prefer to take some of my coins and (very carefully!) handle them and actually feel a personal connection with the history I'm holding. But to do so in this era is to allow yourself to lose quite a bit on the sale. A very confident, competent and experienced coin grader who physically examines the coin may not need the slabbing to confirm the value, but today -- in the age of eBay and sight-unseen or seen-by-jpeg sales to less than expert graders, the expert confirmation of grade -- AND authenticity and lack of problems like cleaning, corrosion, or PVC -- is key for most.

My heart is 100% with you. My head, alas, is not.

 

As your replies are as Dealers and Investors...I on the otherhand am a collector, I love to see my sets and coins as they should be presented and not a box full of slabs!

How can anyone actually say "Look at this beautiful set of Slabs, and I know they are worth what I paid for them"

It has become a cold society of collectors that believe the goal of coin collecting is to insure value to others....

The value of a coin should be in the eye of the beholder. Most are beautiful in thier own right.

The practice of buying sight-unseen just to fill a need and not to appriciate the beauty of the coin seen is certainly a fact of life and in these cases the need for authentication is very real but I feel maybe the newer collectors are buying the slabs.

I'll bet most of your most valuable and beautiful prize coins were aquired before slabbing.

'Nuff preaching...I get your point.

 

If you were selling slabs, what would you say?

 

As I mentioned before, I collect, I am not a dealer nor do I plan to sell off my collection....

If that time comes, I am sure I will get a fair price with out slabbing my entire collection.

But the real point is how much of $10 million dollars is slabbing going to effect the sale of the King of Siam set. and personally if it reduces eye appeal (the base for market grading), how much will that reduce the value?

Gosh! my ranting can go on sumptin' fearce, huh....

Thanks for allowing the vent...I needed that..

Dave..

 

Another aspect to this certification is that it allows the set to be broken easily. As GDJMSP has stated there are a couple of coins in this set that were not apart of the original. As this set contains a few ultra rare coins, authentication is mandatory. Also, at the asking price, this set is only obtainable by a small handful. When (and it will) gets broken into pieces, these coins will all sell for extra value because of the pedigree. Once being part of the King of Siam set will forever link these coins to the set. As one example, the 1804 dollar in this set is already a 4 million dollar coin. Now with the pedigree......? Right now it is a record setting price, as it always has been. Once this set is broken, the pieces will be worth more than the sum.

 

This is all so true and unfortunate....This treasure has now become a broken treasure, NEVER to be viewed again as a complete (Original set).

Yes, the single pieces are probably worth more individually, but alas...

No More Set (As it was). It is now a new (set) and has lost it's identity.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Opinions are like........everybody's got one. Aren't we lucky to be able to express it.

 

BTW....Are you telling me you have broken your sets into slabs?

I truly hope I am reading that wrong.....