Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 9/8/2011

Question
I got a coin from a guy at work, 1 of a 3-coin set, that I believe is a gold commemorative set. Coin has Fridericus Borrussorum Rex and the bust picture has long flowing hair and a laurel wreath on the head. The reverse has Ein Reichs Thaler, bird with a crown, flags, and small 1991 above the 17A86, 999.9 to the left of the date and 2-character 'mint mark'(?) to the right.  The set mounting has the words "Testamentarische Grablegung Friedrich der GroBe; Sanssouci Potsdam 1991".  The other 2 coins look like proofs, but he brought this one to work in his pocket and it doesn't have the mirror surface of the other 2.  He said his uncle traveled and gave him the set as a present around 1992 and paid "a good sum" even back then.  Found one reference to the set in German, but no idea how much its worth.  It LOOKS like 3 1-ounce gold coins.   Sorry for the out-of-focus pix, taken with an old cell phone. The single-coin both-sides pic was found on the web, but it's slightly different in that I don't see the 999.9 on the left of the date, and only 1 'mint mark' on the right of the date. Thanks for any light you can shine on this mystery!

Answer
Hi,
I am familiar with this set. They were issued in gold and in silver. The two smaller coins are normally proof and the large enter-piece is not, so what you describe sounds just right. One unusual thing - the gold sets I've seen had a large center coin, but the two proofs were small 3.5 gram coins. Value on this is tricky.
If you auctioned it off (quick sale) you would basically get gold bullion value for it. If it were sold in a retail/coin shop situation (may take a very long time to sell) they can ask whatever price they want and haggle down from there.
There are not all that many collectors for modern commemoratives, most people who see it will be interested in the gold content only.
Luckily gold is climbing up towards $2,000 per ounce.
Thanks for the question! =)