In Jim Cook's Archive

BAD DEAL

Some coin dealers send newly minted U.S. Silver Eagles into a grading service to have them graded and slabbed (encased in plastic).   Then they sell them as high grade coins at double or triple the price of a regular Silver Eagle.  The problem is (if history repeats itself) these coins will only bring the price of regular Silver Eagles when they are resold.

Over 700,000 2011 Silver Eagles struck at West Point have been graded at the high grade of MS-69 (uncirculated coins are graded MS-60 through MS-70).  That’s a huge quantity of coins for the grade and type.  In the MS-70 grade over, 50,000 have been graded.  That’s also a lot.  No doubt if every Silver Eagle were to be third party graded there would be hundreds of thousands more at high grades.  The process of selling high grade Silver Eagles at high prices profits the dealer who sells them at the expense of the customer who buys them.  Third party grading was created for rare coins.  There is nothing rare about Silver Eagles.

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