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

If one needs a coin to add to the collection of $20 Carson City double eagles, what better recommendation one can get than from the CCCCOA members, plus a beautiful image of the coin.

blue62vette: "this coin is close to perfect"

randysc: "very nice coin"

Garryn: "awesome looking coin"

coindrummer: "Ohhh is that even a nice coin"

I needed a 1885-CC $20 double eagle, so I decided to investigate this particular coin. Yes, it is a very nice coin. It most likely will qualify for a CAC or a "+" sticker.

The only thing that remained was to establish a realistic price for it.

The Coin Dealer (gray sheet) lists a wholesale price for MS-60 at $14,500, PCGS Price Guide lists a retail price at $22,000 and the dealer was asking for $25,263.

A few phone calls and we arrived at a mutually agreeable price. Two days later the coin was on my desk in Mentor, OH.

Thank you guys. It is a beauty.

John Armonas

Congratulations John.

Todd,

Nice article! Thanks for posting again for the Coin of the Week project.

Hope all is well in Scaramento town...

Belay Off

Blu62vette,


The DVD with 1885-CC $20 coin images arrived today. What a pleasure to have such well produced images. Mere words cannot describe these pictures, however a combination of words and pictures is vital in communication.

A Chinese proverb "A Picture's Meaning Can Express Ten Thousand Words" shows that we need both in order to understand the meaning of any work. This proverb was wrongly translated as "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words". With advent of digital photography visual messages have reasserted their position as an important communication medium and tend to dominate the communication in general.

When it comes to description of coins, we tend to trust a good image more than a flowery write up about coin's "eye appeal" or pedigree, etc. If a coin has nothing to hide, than a good image is the best way to present that coin. On the Internet, very few dealers display good images of their coins. Most show scanned images that do not describe their coins well.

For a few dollars a professional photographer will help a coin to stand out from the crowd. "Seeing is Believing" states another proverb. The main point is, that a professional looking image will attract attention and a dialog can begin.

Also, one cannot carry a coin collection everywhere, but one can have with him a full digital record of it at all times.

John Armonas

blue62vette,


For the last three weeks, your Coin of the Week managed 250 views. That is more than any other topic. It cannot be the coin, since we have 1870-CC $20 with only 30 or so views.

I think that your posting was written from a personal point of view, not just regurgitation of data from one book or another.

Then again, it could have been the professional looking image.

Just my observation. What the rest of you think?

John Armonas

Last month I bought a $20 double eagle from Internet. It was pointed out to me that buying coins from Internet and eBay is reckless.

Never bought anything on eBay, so I have no opinion about it.

As far as Internet is concerned, I have bought a number of coins that way with satisfactory results.

Here are my reasons for using Internet:

1. My time is more valuable for running my business then spending it attending coin shows.

2. Most Internet dealers belong to ANA, PNG, etc. and provide you with a reasonable time to return the coin if it does not meet your standards.

3. Once you establish a relationship with a dealer, it is in his interest to make sure that all transactions are positive.

4. I am not in the league where I must buy coins at auctions with help from a coin manager. For me, coin collecting is just a hobby not a way of life.

What are your thoughts about this subject?

John Armonas