Category Archives: CoinWeek News Update

Flashback: Collector’s $100,000 Gold Coin Sells for $5,000 After He Ruins It!

The results are in…

By CoinWeek News Staff….
In an Uncool Coins! 4K video segment, CoinWeek brought you the heartrending story of an 1850 Liberty $20 Double Eagle gold coin–graded MS-64 Proof-like by NGC (the only one of its kind)–that a buyer (who shall forever remain anonymous) cracked out of its holder and “made better” – despite the efforts and admonitions of Maryland-based coin dealer Julian Leidman of Bonanza Coins.

Mr. Leidman is a deft storyteller, and the yarn he weaves in the video is fascinating and tragic. No synopsis can do his delivery justice, so we highly recommend you watch the segment if you haven’t already. Suffice it to say that what was once a conditionally-rare six-figure coin was ruined by an enthusiastic yet stubborn and ill-informed collector.

A cautionary tale for the ages.

At any rate, as stated in the video, Mr. Leidman did in fact post the coin on eBay for 99 cents on January 13, 2016 in a true “no reserve” auction. But by the end of the first day, bidding had taken the price up to US $1,959.00.

Bidding then stalled but picked back up a week later, when it went as high as $2,968.50 on the 20th.

A day later, the coin was going for $5,018.50.

The final day of bidding (Saturday, Jan. 23) started at $5,250, and by auction’s close the winner of the melancholy 1850 Liberty double eagle was in for a grand total of $6,111.99. This represents an almost 617,273% increase in price from the starting bid for the raw and cleaned coin.

Additionally, at the time of writing the spot price of one troy ounce of pure gold was $1,107.70, making the .900 gold 1850 double eagle worth about $1,071.69 in melt.

Market analysts, take note.

But remember… to err is human and forgiveness–no matter how coarse manners and culture have gotten in this day and age–is still divine, so have a little sympathy for the original buyer, who purchased the coin for $102,000 ($127,900 adjusted for inflation) at a Blanchard’s sale in 2004.

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Almost Half Standing Liberty Centennial Gold Coin Mintage Sold First Day

By CoinWeek News Staff …. The U.S. Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications reported on September 9 that first-day sales of the 2016 Standing Liberty Quarter Centennial Gold Coin totaled 47,884 pieces. This is 2,116 coins shy of half the maximum mintage limit of 100,000 as set by the Mint. While customers who bought their coins […]

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CoinWeek Weekly Coin & Currency News Roundup – April 8, 2016

By Coinweek …. This week, we visit Peruvian counterfeiters, tour the Karlsruhe Mint in Germany and find out whether those coin counting machines at your local bank or grocery store are accurate. And we check in on a lot of news coming out of India. We also touch upon the Panama Papers, and reveal a […]

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CoinWeek Weekly Coin & Currency News Roundup – April 1, 2016

By Coinweek …. Hello, and welcome back to CoinWeek’s weekly roundup of the strange and off-center in coin and currency news. Today’s roundup happens to fall on April 1 – once known as New Year’s but now better known as April Fool’s. We leave it to you, gentle reader, to decide whether one (or more?) […]

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U.S. Mint Offers First Look at 2015 America the Beautiful Quarters® Designs

2015 America the Beautiful Quarter Designs Unveiled…. The United States Mint has forwarded to CoinWeek the five designs that have been selected to represent the 2015 lineup of America the Beautiful Quarters®. The parks that will be honored in 2015 are the Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska, Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana, the […]

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