1885-CC $20 Double Eagle CC Coin of the Week 6-6-10

I agree with you 100% John. It is always preferable to buy things like coins when you can carefully examine them and I spent most of my life doing that and still do, sort of. I live near the Niles Coin Shop in Niles, IL. which has probably the best known bid board in the country and I love to walk in there as often as possible and browse.

The internet is the only place that you can find certain things. I collect civil war tokens and elongated coins from the two Chicago Worlds Fairs and I cannot find those things, even at coin shows and Worlds Fair shows. The numismatic community is very fortunate to have some reliable on-line dealers, particularly on eBay. I have never had a problem buying any coin or currency on eBay. It is not too difficult to find reliable dealers there. For example, there is one dealer that sells only NGC graded civil war tokens. I buy things from him.

Occasionally you will get burned. Pictures can hide imperfections. Toning may turn out to be artificial, corrosion may be present. If you stick to certified coins from a reliable dealer on eBay, it is unlikely that you will have a problem. Harlan Berk and Eagle Eye, for example, have their own websites and also trade on eBay.

Brick and mortar dealers also have websites. I have not had an opportunity to buy anything from our mentor, Southgate, but I have never heard anything but glowing remarks here and elsewhere. I work near Harlan Berk in Chicago. If I see something on their website, I can buy it outright or walk in and look at it. I was in Boston last week and visited J J Teaparty. So just to recap, we are blessed to have dealers on the internet that we can rely on.

Garryn.

Thank you for your reply. Too many members are too shy to use the REPLY button.

Where I live (Mentor, OH) we have a couple of coin shops, but they mainly are interested in buying gold and silver. They do carry some coins, but not from Carson City Mint.

Within 30 miles radius there are a number of coin clubs. All coin clubs feature auctions, about 100 lots per meeting. It is a good place to sell your seconds, but not a good place to upgrade.

Unfortunately large coin shows do not come our way, so upgrading is
done by Internet.

John Armonas

I have only had 1 bad experience with buying coins online. It happened to me on EBAY. In a ten year period of time I really can't complain. I do however love the brick and mortar stores to poke around in and I visit any I can find when traveling. By the way I can't believe that this coin is only an MS-60 grade. The grader( even with strict standards) must have had a bad cup of coffee in the morning before grading this gem.

Loosechange

Loosechange,

Thank you for your reply. The $20 double eagle is very nice. I just received a 1883-CC $1 GSA MS-66. It was bought on Internet. Once I have it's image I will post it. Another beautiful CC coin.

John Armonas

This certain Coin of the Week thread, posted on June 6, 2010, seems to have strayed from its original intent.

Recent replies to it are broader and more general in scope. These recent replies compelled me to create a new category on this discussion board forum called Experiences in Buying Carson City Coins . You can find it under the general category of “CC” Coins on the main navigation list for this forum.

Please transfer all general discussions about buying Carson City coins to this new section.

If in the future, participants on this discussion board have other categories of interest about which they would like to post threads, please email the administrators of the C4OA Web site, so new sections can be created.

Thank you,

Rusty