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My smart phone is trash. It shuts down every 2 minutes. I have a new one ordered but I will not get it until Monday or Tuesday.

So I went to a local coin show naked today. Naked as in, no smart phone.

First, I had to cover the office, so I was there 4 hours after it opened and 2 hours before it closed, so I was in a hurry. I was looking at coins and the dates and grades were running together in my mind. Met a nice guy who offered me a piece I'd never seen before:

2000-W $10 Bi-mettalic Library of Congress Pictured here:


Now I had never seen this thing before, remember boys, I've only been at this game for a handful of years. So when I get home and over the computer, I find that this thing had a mintage of 27,445, except I think this was a proof - mintage of 7261. And my head was bad for math, apparently, because the fella asked me for $10 over melt (unless my math is wrong here, guys, help me out). He asked me for $800 for it. I passed because I couldn't do the math in my head.

I HATE MY DEAD SMART PHONE!

So regale me with your stories, I want to hear about the "ONE THAT GOT AWAY".

Red book shows $1250 for proof

Pass could be China fake

Unless you know who Guy is an can test at $800 I would think dealer would buy at that price if it was easy to Identify for sure.

So I went to a local coin show naked today.

Sheeeh! And your just now letting me know about this AFTER the fact???

Dont get too bummed on this coin- heres my story.

Ran into the same coin for $850 knowing the mintage and what the coin was all about. I think Gold was $1600 and Platinum at $1575 area, so the premium was within reason. But the one I had was loose with no papers/box and 'impaired' where it was taken out, handled, and marked. I knew the purity of 1/4oz gold and 1/4oz plat and a quick check at a different dealer's read book to brush up the mintages gave me some info- When ever you see a coin like this and phone is knocked out- just simply ask a different dealer to see their red/blue/grey sheet for any info- they will likely help you!

Also ask opinions from friends there if you had any- I knew some the dealers quite well and asked them whats up. They said its decent coin, but even with the design and mintages, it has lost its luster as a proof (in the box or not) and they would have charged the normal premiums for the coin if they had it. Remember its a $800 coin so its a bit less liquid in this sense.

So I passed. I actually saw the same exact coin from the same exact dealer in December and never asked thinking it would skyhigh! Looks like it was a reasonable price, but just too odd to sell

It looks a tad like the Canadian $2 coin except that our $2 coin is now made of cheap steel, just like all of our other coins. In 2012 our coinage all got exceptionally trashy. I can't believe they found it necessary to debase a $2 aluminum/bronze-nickel coin and make it out of steel instead. They were already making 95%+ seignorage!

Its the only bi-metallic coin the US Mint has ever minted. It also feels like the last one in a while because it wasnt too popular. With what my local dealers said I am hoping they get one themselves so I can get it at their premiums- 5% over melt.

I used to go to Canada in 1997-1998 and saw a $2 coin as a great novelty. Nice looking coin, but then again I wondered why they used $1 coins as regular coinage! But now the steel currency looks and feels cheap. Little weight and too shiny compared to copper or zinc. This 'fake' feeling debases an otherwise nice looking currency more than it needs to be