1857 Double Eagle $20 gold piece recovered from the SS Central America ship wreck

I’m often asked, what is the best coin you’ve ever had at the shop?  That answer changes from time to time as coins are purchased and then sold, traded, or otherwise disposed of.  I am after all in the BUSINESS of dealing collectible coins, so I can’t afford to fall in love with the material that I acquire.

What is pictured is a recent acquisition that will elevate and change the discussion several times over.  The pictured twenty dollar gold piece is a verified sunken treasure coin recovered from the September 12, 1857 ship wreck SS Central America.  The history, scandal, politics, and effect on 19th century monetary policy are all part of the story that this coin represents.  We all know of the sinking of the Titanic 50 years later, but often lost in history the story of the Central America where nearly 500 people died and until recently nearly ten tons of gold (around a half billion dollars at today value) that caused the financial panic of 1857 and shook US and world monetary confidence.  The following link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Central_America gives a very good readers digest version of the history of both the ship wreck in 1857 and the recovery efforts through the recent history.

I bought the pictured coin as part of a 14 coin set of old US gold coins (pre 1933) about a month ago.  This is several times over the rarest and most expensive single coin I’ve acquired.  This coin came off the ocean floor in 1988 as part of the initial recovery operation.  At that time only an estimated 5% of the total gold cargo was recovered, and this coin part of the only items that have found themselves out in the open market.  Once these items became known, residual surviving companies of the original insurers went to court to recover, the original investors started suing each other, the head guy went into hiding, and the whole matter of the recovered gold has been tied up in the courts.  Just recently, a Columbus Ohio court has authorized the release of another 5000 items that have been subsequently recovered, and it is expected those items will hit markets this coming spring.  Yet still, over half the estimated gold that was on that ship has yet to be recovered.

I’ve already sold this coin, so all that’s left is the story and the pictures.  The rest of that acquisition is an essentially complete type set of graded (all MS 63) old gold coins, which for now remains in my inventory.  Twelve coins total, including the rare type 2 dollar and three dollar gold piece.  The shipwreck coin and the others are all the quality and type that are more typically acquired from national dealers or big time auction firms, so I think it a particular coup that I’ve been able to handle material of this quality.

I never know what opportunities are going to walk through the shops door.  I’m excited and pleased to share the story of this acquisition and sale.

Gene

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Pre 1965 US coin consists of a 90% silver base

The post Silver is on Sale appeared first on The Goldbug Exchange.

This question is asked of me everyday, yet I struggle to answer it adequately.

Many of the folks who follow this business page are friends as well as clients.  It is from that relational platform that makes that seemingly innocuous question difficult to answer.  The nine month anniversary of the official transition from partnership to sole proprietorship comes up tomorrow.  This post will seek to answer this question honestly without being heavy on specific proprietary models.

As an essentially pure free marketeer ideologically, I don’t concern myself much with competition.  The culture of this business is narrow niches served, and I seek to build a business through a reliable sustained base rather than to raise sales and trade through unsustainable marketing gimmicks.  It’s all about relationships, and what I learned 25 years ago in my first business (I was a Domino’s Pizza franchisee back when they had a good product and a good business model) are as true now as they were then.  What’s more, what works in a small business will work in any small business.  My goal every day when I go into the shop is to do at least one single thing that makes the business better at the end of the day than it was at its beginning.

The short answer is that business is good.  June and July have been the best 2 months since I assumed total control of the shop.  We’ve (while I no longer have business partners there are key collaborators) looked to first define and categorize the business into 3 separate niches, and then market and develop those niches separately.  It’s a 180 degree shift from a reactionary approach, which is really no plan at all, and towards a defined response to shifts and changes in the niche markets that we serve.  The exciting thing is that it very much remains a work in progress.  It is a desire to continue to ‘drill down’ on marketing, and institute planning to every aspect of the business.  In many ways it is an approach that runs counter to the western corporate culture of bottom line results oriented management.

We will be all about PROCESS.  It is slow, disciplined, and sometimes painful.  It is also consistent with the faith I profess and desire to live out.  There are no ‘aspects’ of my life or separate purposes, and this will be a business of relationships and service.

Gene

The post How’s Business??? appeared first on The Goldbug Exchange.

I talk with clients every day about gold and silver prices.  Most everyone I talk to comes to the conversation with some information, whether it be checking the financial markets for the ‘SPOT’ price of silver or gold, checking price guides online or in trade publications, or simply looking up information on their items on eBay.  All of these are useful indicators (and there are others), but none of them taken separate and apart should be relied on exclusively.  Today’s topic is a preliminary introduction to the 3 information sources mentioned, and their usefulness and limitations as a price tool.

1. SPOT PRICE  Much like the old stock tickers, this gives anyone with a phone or other device instant access to both the ‘bid’ and the ‘ask’ price, up to the last transaction.  You’ll find it on my home page https://www.thegoldbugexchange.com/  and just about anywhere else someone is involved in the precious metals business.  The problem with this is that none of us ‘small investors’ buy or sell at that price.  Those numbers represent contracts by banks and governments to buy and sell large lots of bullion at some point forward.  They are futures contracts, sometimes nothing more than options that continue to be traded.  While I do watch the spot price and can sometimes amuse myself watching the hourly spikes when POTUS tweets something particularly provocative, it doesn’t have much to do with the price at which I’ll buy or sell a tube of silver eagles on any particular day.  What is useful for me is looking at trends.  As a dealer, I’m looking at 60 day and 6 month trends.  For most of my clients, a longer view would be more appropriate.
2. PRICE GUIDES  These are available online in a host of places http://www.coinweek.com/coin-prices/coin-price-guides/  Everyone in the business uses them, and in the hands of an experienced numismatist an invaluable tool.  Even so, no dealer doing his due diligence relies solely on guides, as they tend to represent highest prices paid for a particular coin in a particular grade.  Myself, I look at auction prices (NOT EBAY) to get a sense of what higher quality numismatics are actually fetching.  Recently it’s been running 70 to 80% of the price guide prices.  In the hands of the inexperienced, price guides have very limited value.  In order to make use of a coin price guide, you’ve got to have some ability to grade coins.  Absent that, a guide will at least give a novice the ability to recognize key dates in a particular coin series.
3. eBay  Saving the best for last.  I use eBay.  Occasionally I sell coins there.  It gives anyone instant access to a world wide market.  It’s saved me from over paying more times than I can count, when price guides and trade publications have given pie in the sky values for items for which there simply is no demand.  The fundamental problem with eBay as a determiner of value is that most people do not use it correctly.   Most research their item by finding it on eBay and then browsing the current auctions.  That only tells the ASKING price for an item, and with the whole world seemingly selling on eBay, a lot of people ask a lot.  It has no relationship to the actual market or demand for an item.  That is not to say the information is not there, because it is.  Anyone with an eBay account can do an advanced search on either ‘completed’ or ‘sold’ listings.  I use it all the time, and its default sort is by most recent going back.  It’s a great tool if it is used correctly.

I’ll be back next week with something new.  Please feel free to contact me directly or comment on these articles if there is something you’d like to see discussed.

Happy Hunting,

Gene

The post Am I getting a fair price? appeared first on The Goldbug Exchange.

Gold coins have been the primary tool for preserving wealth since the time of Moses.

 I’m seldom asked, and I wish I were, what  best  to buy when buyers of gold and silver bullion begin amassing their ‘stash’.

Gold particularly requires due diligence as the loss cost of buying a single bogus piece will run into the thousands of dollars.  There is no single safe guard that will guarantee your gold purchase, but there are a number of ‘BEST PRACTICES’ that if taken in the whole make it highly unlikely you’ll ever end up with a counterfeit.  To that end, I’ve compiled a few recommendations:

1. Know who you’re buying from.  This applies whether you are purchasing from a local coin shop, an established national dealer, or an individual known to you.  Despite the claims of some of my peers, we all are capable of being fooled by a good counterfeit.  Everyone looks good and seems credible when things go well.  Take care to deal with someone both experienced and reputable.
2. Consider smaller weights and values.  Besides limiting the risk, there are pragmatic reasons for taking this approach.  If the reason you’ve chosen to buy precious metals (notice I didn’t use the word invest) is to guard against hyper inflation or collapse of fiat currency, who’s going to be able to give change on that 100 ounce silver bar when you need groceries?
3. Start with good old US 90% silver coin as your base.  It’s easily identifiable, trade-able, and the chances of a bogus non numismatic coin highly unlikely.  Silver has been the every day ‘workingman’s’ exchange medium since the old testament age, and no stacker should be without a good supply of this type of ‘hard money’.
4. When buying gold, my recommendation would be towards established coins struck at government mints.  Gold has a unique physical and chemical composition.  It is both one of the densest and softest of metals.  That combination makes it very difficult for counterfeiters to match up the weight and size.  Recently, there are some very good counterfeits coins being produced in China with tungsten as its base metal.  The weight and size can be very closely matched, but the detail in the coins not so much.  Tungsten is a much harder metal (also fairly rare), so even the best of counterfeiters will be hard pressed to match the detail in a high relief gold coin.

In closing, a word or two about gold bars.  In most cases, those bars are encased in plastic ‘assay cards’, and most private mints stamp official looking registration numbers on their bars.  They can’t be weighed or measured, and private mints at least in my experience won’t authenticate a specimen based on a registration number.  They can only be verified genuine by using an x-ray spectrometer (a ten thousand dollar machine), and most local coin dealers don’t have such equipment.  I’ve read about a promising alternative technology available for about a tenth of that, and if sufficiently convinced of its reliability expect that to be my next major asset purchase.

At the Goldbug Exchange, I have sufficient quantities of gold and silver bullion on hand for most investors, and can arrange through a partnership with a well-known national dealer to acquire larger quantities if needed.

Stop by and we’ll talk coins and precious metals.  I take my coffee with cream, no sugar.  Gene

The post The Case for Gold Coin appeared first on The Goldbug Exchange.

Pre-1965 US coin consists of a 90% silver base

If you’re thinking of augmenting your long term savings with silver or gold, there’s no better time than now to start, and the most conservative start is with good old US 90% silver coin.

Right now I’ve got adequate inventory and can help you start a weekly or monthly plan to begin filling up your safe or personal bank vault with money that will always be worth something.  In the late 1960’s the spot price of silver was around $3.00 per troy ounce and a gallon of milk was around 75 cents. Today’s spot price is around $16.50 troy, and a gallon of milk is about 4 bucks.

The post Start acquiring ‘Hard Money’ Now appeared first on The Goldbug Exchange.

1) the client had no idea that this was a better date coin.
2) this lot had already been to a competing coin shop locally where they were offered the scrap silver value for the coin.

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