Gold Coin Value

Waterhead said:

Hey Folks,

A friend of mine came across a pretty rare gold US $5.00 coin after his father passed away. He is not interested in keeping it and will probably sell it off.

I'm not really a coin collector but I'm trying to give him guidance so he gets a fair return on the coin's value. The coin is pretty flawless and I suggested that he send it off to get graded.

Where or who grades coins and how does one get an appraisal?

Thanks,

John

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Go on ebay and find the exact coin for sale on there. The exact coin same mintmark same date same condition.
Then on the left sidebar click the tab "Sold Listings" and see what they sold for. What people are willing to pay will give you a great idea what it is actually worth.

There are a lot of variables when it comes to rare or valuable coins. If a coin has been cleaned, polished or used in jewelry it will take a lot of money off of what it is worth. I stay away from slabbed or certified coins because china is putting fake coins in slabs that are perfect copies right down to the barcode and hologram, and a slabbed coin cannot be weighed or measured.
I would bet 1/3 or more of the slabbed coins floating around coin shows and ebay are fake.

Locate the coin shops in your area and visit them, get several opinions and price offerings before he sells it. Not all coin shops are crooked but some are.

Good luck!

Excellent

Good information, thank you so much!

John

Glad to help! I favor British Gold coins myself.

Here are a couple links that will help.

$5 Indian heads http://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/gold-5-half-eagle/indian-head/

$5 Coronet & Liberty heads http://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/gold-5-half-eagle/coronet-head/

My quintuple or 5 pound British Sovereign

The Best Coin Grading Service is PCGS ...Its here on the net...it could be a little pricey but they are the Most Highly Regarded Grading Service...A PCGS Graded coin will ALWAYS Command higher prices when sold and will usually bring the prices asked

THAT is One Gorgeous Sovereign !!!!

Joe sent you a pm. If you get a few pics we could better help you with ideas to help move the coin.

Got pics?

Irons said:

Glad to help! I favor British Gold coins myself.

Here are a couple links that will help.

$5 Indian heads http://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/gold-5-half-eagle/indian-head/

$5 Coronet & Liberty heads http://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/gold-5-half-eagle/coronet-head/

My quintuple or 5 pound British Sovereign

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Being from England I got bored of these quickly, have a half in a ring but like the kangaroos an some others, buying nuggets right now, every one unique, 1 g minimum.

I think most coin shops would be reasonably honest, since their reputation is what sells the most coins. If they rip people off buying coins, do they really think they'll be back to buy coins, or have nice things to say about the business? Doubt seriously most would offer to pay what it's actually worth, since it would be tough to make a profit, though they could afford to sit on it a while, until someone really wants it bad enough, and the value increases. But a business needs to sell, to pay the bills every month. To a shopkeeper, it's worth paying as much, as he can turn around a sell it for a reasonable profit, not what a potential customer is going to pay for it.

I'm not a serious collector, but a gold coin is worth hanging on to, until a desperate buyer comes along, just not that common. Not sure if you can still spend them, if you were crazy enough to settle for face value, like silver. Post some pictures here, probably a few people interested, and willing to make a decent offer.

I am an avid coin collector.
Here is my experienced advice.

First, confirm to your self it is real.
Weight, diameter, thickness.

Weight must be within 1 or 2 tenths of a gram.
Diameter and thickness must be exact.

Once you do that, get in touch with a local coin dealer, show it to him/her and get tier advice.

On the PCGS website, there are images that show coins in different states of wear, that you can use to help you approximate a grade.

If YOU think it is a high grade, then look at the graded coin prices. The difference between a 62 and 64 can be a ton of money. Since you didn't tell us the year or mintmark, it is hard to guess at anything.

So, once all that stuff is done, contact PCGS or any other of the top tier grading services for a price on sending it in to be graded.

When I buy gold off of ebay, I won't buy a non-certified coin. What the other guy said about chinese fakes is somewhat true, not all coins are faked. It is failry easy to verify a slab. You just need to know what you are looking for. But you aren't buying, you are selling. So, if you think it is worth a lot, send to be graded, It will help you get the price you want.

I honestly don't know any coin collector who will buy an ungraded gold coin on ebay. and I know hundreds of collectors.


so, to sum it up...

a quick buck? take it to a coin dealer. NOT A PAWN SHOP
is it worth over 1000.00? get it graded and certified. under 1000.00 it isn't worth it.

unless it really is a RARE version of the $5.00 gold piece, a KEY date, then it isn't worth much more then the gold content, UNLESS it is a high grade coin.