There is a national geographic ad running this month. The Odyssey salvage company is offering the Liberty seated half dollars for $1000 each, graded by NGC. Sounds like the Odyssey is trying to hyoe up the SS Republic ship wreck. It did have a lot of coinage in the wreck. At first The advertised offer sounded pretty good, but Odyssey is offering the coins at book prices, or average retail. The greysheer or coin show prices are probably cheaper. Any of you think the SS Republic coins should a premium? .. the ad specifically offered New Orleans minted coins, I think the ad was offering 1860-o. Nice find for the Odyssey group, but why make them wealthier than they already are. right? ....if you are not familiar with the Odyssey salvage story, SS Republic sank in 1865 enroute from New York to New Orleans. The hoard of gold and silver was supposedly an attempt to bail out the New Orleans Economy (142 years later, N.O. is in the crapper again.)
Somebody correct me if this is wrong. Doesn't NGC just slab the coins with a grade of "conserved" since there is surface corrosion because of silvers reaction with salt water? If that's the case, then you'd be buying a less than BU example and pay the premium just for the pedigree. Rick L.
Depends. Some people that want a piece of history are willing to pay a prenium. Coin collectors generally don't care.
shipwreck I saw some SS Republic coins offered last year. they were graded by NGC? "shipwreck effect" on the lable. I do remember I saw them for sale from a couple places and they were listed at a considerable premium over comparable coins that haven't seen salt water.
US$1,000 for $1/2? That sounds like a rip-off to me.I don't know of any Seated Liberty $1/2 coins that are catalogued at US$1,000. Aidan.
Any of you think the SS Republic coins should a premium? Yes, ofcourse. If you want a seated half for your 7070, buy one at a coin show. if you want a piece of history then pay the grand. It's up to the comsumer to decide. Some folks like the idea of owning a coin that was pulled from a shipwreck. Salvaging is an expensive business. Why shouldn't they and their investers profit?
It depends on the wreck, but most shipwreck coins do carry a premium. But that much, no. It does happen though. A lot of the stuff that Mel Fischer found sells for anywhere from 5 to 10 times what it is actually worth. It all just depends if people are willing to pay it. But to be honest, most of the people paying it are not collectors.
The SS Republic coins are all hype. I had the chance to see a bunch a couple of years ago in Florida at a metal detecting show. They are very fancy cases and nice displays, but very expensive for salt water damaged coins.
It reminds me of the British silver & gold coins that were recovered off the wreck of the 'Elingamite',which sank in 1902,in 1967 by a group of divers off the coast near Auckland,New Zealand. Aidan.
I saw a documentary they filmed during the salvage. The coins were dipped in some sort of electrolyte solution to prevent any saltwater dmage. Im not saying the coins dont have any saltwater damage; I dont know. Here's an interesting piece of trivia. They lowered a kettle down to the wreck to put the coins in. They went shopping at a 99-cent store and bought some sort of rubber matting to separate the coins in the kettle so they wouldnt get scratched. The coins are hype, unless theres some rare varieties. The SS Republic is a perfect example though of this: more higher grade specimens that have been graded (assuming no salt corrosion.) thus more high grades means lower prices at those grades. (not that the average collector can afford the top grade coins)
I'd gladly pay 5 to 10 times what one of those coins is actually worth. What is a corroded harshly cleaned and badly hairlined XF-AU seated half worth? $35? $25?
Shipwreck coins cannot be evaluated like a non-shipwreck coin. Coin value is based on Scarcity, condition, 1st or last and Subject matter. The SS Republic is all about subject matter. They also found some coins that were not known to exsist like the 1858-O Doubled 1. Not to mention the 1861-O attributed to the Confederacy and the state of Louisana when it was it's own soverign nation.
