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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/SS Republic coin
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Good afternoon,
)
I have just acquired an 1848 $10 gold eagle coin (NGC AU53), from the shipwreck SS Republic, mounted in a beautiful frame (shadowbox as they call it) with an autographed picture of Nicholas Gage and Jerry Bruckheimer from the movie National Treasure, and a picture of the coin find on the ocean bed, autographed by Greg Stemm the CEO of Odyssey Marine Exploration. It's number 4 of 15 that were produced as part of an on-line promotion. Can you give me any idea of its' "real" value? I called OME and they had said it was promoted as worth $25K (which I don't for a second believe). I truly appreciate any info you can give me.
Thanks so much,
George
Hi George,
The 25k figure is certainly steep, even for an insurance estimate. The coin by itself would be in the $2,000 range on a good day. With all the beautiful documentation, you might get somewhere between $4,000 and $6,000 in a RETAIL situation with the right buyer. An auction estimate would have to be much more conservative, since many coin collectors and not many shipwreck collectors.
One thing that is of concern to me is the grade. Typically NGC and other companies will not give an exact grade to a coin that has been salvaged and cleaned. They will certify it as genuine and give a "details" grade, such as "AU details" without an exact number grade, like the 53. In other circumstances, the coin will simply be returned as ungradable.
Many people in the field will tell you that a certificate of authenticity is worthless, since just about everything (real and fake) comes with one. Many dealers actually print and stamp their own COA's, which is a major problem on online auctions at the moment. as a general rule, never trust a COA from an eBay dealer or the like.
The whole connection with the "National Treasure" movie actually hurts the value more than helping it. Completely different collectors would be seeking the signed movie print than would be the coin.
It would actually be more presentable to coin collectors if the whole left side was not there at all.
Thanks for the question! =)
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Answers by Expert:
Dmitry Livshits
Expertise
My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.
Experience
Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.
Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).
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