I just won the "Single Sister Gold"
I was wondering if anybody has seen one for sale and know what it went for. I don't remember anyone selling one on ebay. I have seen the Regional Event pieces for sale but never the store event.
I am interested in geting it insured and could use an idea of it's value.

Congrats Daniel, that sounds exciting!
No idea of value.
Bob

I follow eBay quite closely and don't recall seeing that particular gold-plated piece offered for bids. It's tough to say exactly what it is worth. You got it for free so it's worth at least that. I'd give you $100 for it right now so it's at least worth that. Someone might offer you a lot more so it would at least be worth that.

If you think I'm messing with you, you're absolutely correct! What it comes down to is it's only worth what someone is willing to give you for it.

You have to ask yourself what you are willing to pay for insurance premiums just in case something happens to it. I guess it all depends if you have an optimistic or pessimistic view. Does it have material value or personal value? If your house was on fire, would you grab the gold piece or your family photos on your way out?

Don't get me wrong, the gold piece is a great thing to win. I wish I could have won it, but I didn't. Now you're in the drawing for a similar piece with precious stones that is even more rare.

If you want to test the waters on gold pieces, put it on eBay and set the reserve price high and see what kind of bids you get.

Bob

Congratulations Daniel!

I wish I could have been there, but I had to go out of town last week.

Cathy

I have insured the Mark Twain Gold at $3,000. Not to say that that is an accurate figure. But I seem to remember that I set it at that price because I saw one sell on ebay for near that amount.

Who else has a GOLD insured and at what price value did you set for it?

Bob M,

Shortcake just blew your $100 offer right out of the water. Conclusion? $100 is too little and $3000 is too much.

Bob

My wife was fortunate to win a Gold Cape St. George at the Connecticut Regional in 2001. They gave five of them away that day and one extremely lucky couple won two of them.

Before we could even leave the building, we had offers to buy the piece. We said, "Thanks but no thanks."

When we were at the Baltimore Reunion, a gold Cape St. George was auctioned off and brought a high bid of $5,000 if my memory serves me correctly, so we were quite excited about owning one of them. Charity auctions do inflate prices. I did try to trade it off, via the New Marketplace, for a Gold Southeast Block Island but had no takers. I was sincerely hoping that someone might have won two Gold Southeast Blocks and might jump at the chance of giving one up for a different gold piece. I would still make that trade today if the opportunity arose. Southeast Light is one of my favorites why Cape St. George isn't.

No matter what happens, I feel very fortunate to have a gold piece in my collection. I know some people have won gold more than once and some even more than twice. Then we must remember all those folks that have tried and not won one.

We all know the collectible market has dropped considerably in the last three years. Some pieces don't even bring a third of what they did four years ago. Taking that into consideration, I would estimate those gold pieces that numbered somewhere around 30 made are probably worth $1000-$1500. Those gold pieces that numbered around 100 made are probably worth around $500-$800.

Once again, they are only worth what someone is willing to give you for them.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

I'd love to know what my GOLD Bailey's Harbor is worth. It's the ONLY one. Any idea what I should insure that for? No Ken R. You can't have it! HA HA

Ken

One of a kind can bring up some interesting opinions regarding actual worth. No one will deny the fact the fewer there are the more valuable a piece can be.

There are many dedicated collectors of HL's that would love to get their hands on your gold Bailey's Harbor. Some of them might have very deep pockets and might make you an offer you couldn't refuse.

No one has ever come up with a formula as to what a gold piece is actually worth. Things like the popularity of that light as compared to an obscure light might enter into it. Would a gold Cape Hatteras be worth more than a gold Bailey's Harbor? What is the most amount of gold pieces of one light that can be made before the overall value of a single gold piece is reduced? Is interest lost because only one was made and only one person can win it? Is it better to have more than one so people figure they have a better chance of winning one or may be able to purchase the piece from an actual winner who doesn't totally understand the HL thing.

We are the connected collectors brought together here at the Collector Forums. Are we few in number as compared to computerless HL collectors who buy, display, and store pieces some of us may have never seen in person? Any idea who the actual richest HL collector in the world might be? Ever wonder if any celebrities are HL collectors and we might not even know it?

Ken, to answer your question about the worth of you Gold Bailey's Harbor, I would have to honestly say I don't know. You could put it on eBay with a low opening bid and an extremely high reserve to get an idea about what it's worth. Then again, nobody dealing on eBay right now is willing to pay premium prices. Everyone wants a deal because that's the way eBay works. There are some marvelous offerings on eBay and I must admit I have purchased rare HL's and the bids went far above a "real deal". I guess it's the luck of the draw. Everytime you hit that "submit bid" button you have to ask yourself, "Do you feel lucky?"

Bob

My opinion is that your Gold Bailey's is worth between $2,500 and $4,000.

But of course there needs to be a buyer willing to spend that money for that level to be reached. Two buyers willing, able, and competing would help you achieve the higher price.

One of a kind gold of a piece where there were only 500 to begin with makes it among the rarest of the rare.

John is very close with his estimate of worth. The one and only gold Alpena went for $3,000 at a charity auction. Is that a true indicator of value?

Bob

$2500-$4000? Wow! Well Ken, remember if you hadn't had that lucky seat next to me, and I didn't rub your shoulder for more luck before your number was called..... Couldn't have happened to a nicer person.

That's it exactly. Someone is willing to pay the price.

The excitement, frenzy and exuberance of an auction and the fact that it was for charity would always enter into the formula. But if someone is willing to pay $3000 then that's what it's worth to that person. Next month it might be only worth $2000 to someone else.

Bob