Thoughts on this 1851-D $2 1/2??

I had an ebay member contact me, stating he was an electrician who found a few coins while working in an old attic. He sent me the pictures, and I noticed the 1851 was an 1851-D. I know this is a pretty rare/expensive coin, and do not know them well enough to know the diagnostics on it. I am somewhat concerned at the rough surface on the front. The denticles on these are known to be mushy, so that is not as concerning. What are your thoughts? Real? If so, what grade?

 

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Wow 1851-D two and half dollar key date
I would say Au 55 - 58
But there's some very good coucounterfeit out of this date. I would be very careful.

 

Does he own that old attic? If not, he's technically stolen someone else's property and I would stay away from it.

 

What are the other coins he found?

 

The coin looks real, but I also agree, could be to hot to handle.. If hes not the owner, the grade could put him in more trouble then he thinks, ms-64 is worth 50,000.00 dollars, that would carry some heavy jail time, maybe you to, for buying it ... That devil would be on my shoulder, thats for sure ...

 

I've thought about those things as well. I am not sure if he is now the legal owner or not. I thought it appeared to be in pretty good shape other than the marks on the obverse. Possibly MS61? Also, the other coins were a 1911 $2 1/2 and an 1873 $1 gold. Both pretty good condition.

 

Home owner could come back but if in wall owner probably has no idea it was in wall. But if did know about it. Stay away from it 20 - 50k could be years not money!!!!!!

 

This is a coin that I would need to see in hand, but I think it looks questionable. Here is a genuine example to compare it too:

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It looks real, now it is a game of morals. Do you buy the coin even though it was gotten questionably or do you take the chances and hope you or the guy don't get in trouble.

Tough spot

 

xf-45 pcgs

 

The coin appears authentic.

 

I'm at AU something. Ownership is the big problem but we don't know all the details. The guy may have bought them from the owner of the property. You could offer to send the coin in for the guy. That would buy you some time to learn the details and let the dust settle a bit.

 

Ownership is always the argument here and I really get sick of hearing it. The most honest thing to do is leave them in the wall for whomever put them there to retrieve them, even though they're most likely dead.

The fair solution is for the finder and the legal owner (who simply bought a house and have no knowledge of the coins) to share 50-50 in the windfall.

Unfortunately, once the legal owner sees the dollar signs, they usually stiff the finder.

So unless you know the owner to be good people (which can still backfire), just leave them.

 

Sorry, should have said also, Cool coin!

 

Stealing is stealing, there's know other way around it ...

 

Thanks for posting that. I had forgotten to mention the grade or the citation to Coin Facts.

 

I am still unsure if he legally owns it, even though he claims he does. I have offered to send it in to get graded (my curiosity is killing me!), but am unsure if he would trust me enough to mail a potentially expensive coin without knowing me.

 

Larger photos would help (at least me) but nothing about the coin immediately strikes me as being off; both the date position and mintmark appear correct. Now, without digging through my notes I cannot say if only some or all had this, but look closely at the tip of the bust for a medium/heavy die scratch sloping slightly upward towards the star; if there chances are very good you're looking at a genuine example.

As for how or if to deal with this fellow, just use your brain and don't let the idea of a profitable flip cloud your judgement. If he found the coins in someone unknown's attic, for all sense and purposes they're already gone, and we both know if you do not wish to deal with him, there are plenty who will. I am certainly not suggesting you deal with him because of this, but just pointing out that you'll stop nothing by walking away. Perhaps you should try to get more of the story out of him, without disclosing anything about the coins themselves just yet, and go from there. Is this person someone you've sold to in the past, or did he contact you out of the blue?

 

He contacted me out of the blue. I have already told him it could potentially be worth a lot (I did not tell him how much, but do not want to lie to him either). I would like to see the coin get graded at the very least. I am not sure if the marks above the Liberty head will keep it from grading or not. Other than that, it appears to be pretty good condition.

 

I would ask for additional pictures, something that you can request - for example request a picture on a blue background. The idea is to prove that he actually has the coins he says he has, and isn't just pulling your leg. Just tell him the blue background makes it easier to see details on the coin or something.