Lucky Gold Coin

The other day I hosted a “Ask J. Money Day” where people sent in questions – no matter of what nature – and I’d answer them. One such reader chimed in with questions on valuing paper currency (which I’ll put in a different post), and then after some back and forth I learned about a gold coin from her family’s past.

I thought you’d find it interesting, so here’s that part first :)

I love coins and currency — appropriate for a CPA, huh!  Back in the 50s, my mom worked as a bank teller and “bought out” a lot of the older currency that came through the bank.  She’s had her “collection” all of these years but I think I’m going to buy it from her (at fair market value of course).  She needs the money and it would be a great start for a collection of my own.

Right now, my collection consists primarily of one coin… a 1913 gold Indian Head $2 1/2 dollar piece and bunches of random stuff that probably has no significant value.  I’ve even considered becoming a certified goober and obtaining a metal detector to search for coins!

Not a bad coin to “only” have! I told her these Indian Head’s can go from $300-$1,000 depending on condition (for this year – 1913), but from the looks of it it’s probably in the $300-$350 range. What she wrote back was hilarious :)

It may have started out as mint but almost all of my cousins had it in their shoe when they were married.  Some of them were not small people!  I’m lucky that the coin hasn’t been squished down to paper-thin but the size of a quarter

This is why I LOVE collecting – you never know where these coins have been! Learning about the story of them all – both historically, and personally – is what makes this so much fun. Who would have ever guessed this was used as good luck piece for a wedding? And in a SHOE at that? :)

Here’s the note from her mom on it – she only paid $5.00 for it!

That yellow stuff all over the note is the old cellophane tape – to give you an idea of how old it is. It reads: “I purchased this $2 1/2 gold piece for $5.00 while working at 1st Nat’l BK., 1958”

Smart mom :)