There was a thing such as online, but the most common online connection was dial-up modem ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_Internet_access ). As these modems utilized the ordinary wired phone network, the speed was really slow (56k kbit/s), so images were tiny.
1999 was the year I purchased my first own PC (Windows 98) with a 8 GB harddrive and a slow as hell CPU. I could easily put over a kettle of coffee before Windows was loaded and ready. There was no dial-up modem included, had to buy it separately and install it in its slot.
My first online purchase was in January 2000 on eBay. Such fond memories of these klondike years on the internet.
Netscape Navigator, the first widely used graphical browser was released in 1994. Prior to that there was still “online” all the way back to 1969 when ARPANET was created. Online was not an invention but a gradual progression.
In 1999 gold ranged from about US$250 - 300 an oz.
I bought a couple $5 US gold eagles (1/10 oz) on ebay for melt (~$30 each), then a few months later I sold them on ebay for about $35 each. Doesn't sound like much but at the time there were no listing fees and 1st class postage was maybe 35 cents? So I flipped the coins for 16% profit, again not much but it was quick and easy and fun. In the early days ebay was awesome!
Side note: I got an angry email from an Ebay member who railed on me for selling the coins above melt. She was livid and said it was “unfair” to sell coins for over melt. I explained that ebay is an auction site and people bid whatever they want. But the Internet was still new and growing fast and I think some people just didnt get it!
In 1999 my favorite local coin shop was JJ Teaparty (Boston). They went on-line in 1998 with sports cards but sold coins through Coinmall at the time. You can see their lists and prices as recorded on the Wayback Machine website. Here's an example from February 20, 1998:
*Double Eagles*
1857 Rare. Bright w/wisps of rose in protected areas. Desirable orange peel patina. PQ. PCGS-45 $650.
1861 Flashy fields w/traces of frost throughout. NGC-55 $875.
1863-S Rare. Highly lustrous w/hints of rose frost in protected areas. PCGS-53 $1495.
The above website archives many if not most websites and you can search for other dealers (helps if you know the dealer's website) to see who sold gold coins and at what price in 1999. They don't crawl every page every day but still a geat historical record. Hope that helps.
In 1999 my favorite local coin shop was JJ Teaparty (Boston). They went on-line in 1998 with sports cards but sold coins through Coinmall at the time. You can see their lists and prices as recorded on the Wayback Machine website. Here's an example from February 20, 1998:
*Double Eagles*
1857 Rare. Bright w/wisps of rose in protected areas. Desirable orange peel patina. PQ. PCGS-45 $650.
1861 Flashy fields w/traces of frost throughout. NGC-55 $875.
1863-S Rare. Highly lustrous w/hints of rose frost in protected areas. PCGS-53 $1495.
The above website archives many if not most websites and you can search for other dealers (helps if you know the dealer's website) to see who sold gold coins and at what price in 1999. They don't crawl every page every day but still a geat historical record. Hope that helps.
Stunning find. much appreciated. Us coins were of the gods at that time
I think I was paying around £32 - £36 for my circulation KE VII and KG V Sovereigns in 1999. I bought one Victorian Sovereign for around £40. Can't remember how much I paid for my Half Sovereign.
I bought one Proof Sovereign on the birth of my son, which was around £90. Two and half years later I bought another Proof Sovereign for around £140, this time on the birth of my daughter.
I bought my first gold coin in late 1997 - I owned for a few weeks before selling it again.
It was a half sovereign (Weight 3.99 grams or 0.117 ounces of gold), it cost me $110 and I sold it for $98 (Really dumb), back then gold was around $350 USD an ounce which was 500 of our pesos.
I did not buy any more gold until 2017.
TCon, I remember buying Morgan dollars in 1997 - 1999 for an average of about $25 each down to $18 for worn ones and $35 for stunning UNC ones. Our dollar was 68 US cents in 1997 and 42p in 1997, but salumped down to 32p in late 1998.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
the silver coins: 1 rouble and 50 kopeks i sas buying at a huge premium. I was buying them for historic importance, and was not clear on pm price concept.
you and i both seemed to make similar decisions in precious metals.
There was a thing such as online, but the most common online connection was dial-up modem ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_Internet_access ). As these modems utilized the ordinary wired phone network, the speed was really slow (56k kbit/s), so images were tiny.
1999 was the year I purchased my first own PC (Windows 98) with a 8 GB harddrive and a slow as hell CPU. I could easily put over a kettle of coffee before Windows was loaded and ready. There was no dial-up modem included, had to buy it separately and install it in its slot.
My first online purchase was in January 2000 on eBay. Such fond memories of these klondike years on the internet.
FYI - My wife started sending electronic messages from her desktop computer at work to the company's Canadian office via a system called X400 back in 1988/89 - she worked for the company that developed that system. This was a forerunner to what we now know as emails. WWW and the internet in its basic form may have been available then to specialist IT companies, or it wasn't far behind that.
Online definitely was a thing. I got my first email account (the one I'm still using today) in 1996. Ebay was founded in 1995, and even our local version of Ebay in little old New Zealand (Trademe) was founded in 1999
Online definitely was a thing. I got my first email account (the one I'm still using today) in 1996. Ebay was founded in 1995, and even our local version of Ebay in little old New Zealand (Trademe) was founded in 1999
All true, but many of us did not join Trade Me until the early 2000s. Being from the poorer half of NZ society, I did not get to use a computer with internet until 2006, and a second hand laptop for myself until 2009.
In 2004 I joined Trade Me, as I had a smurf(!!!!) collecting competition with my work mate (She won 57 vs my 33, although I got a Papa smurf and a Smurfette), and I had to go Internet cafes (Remember those).
I had a paper ledger from 1999/2000 In which I listed all my coin purchases and the prices back then were crazy, yet all the really common stuff cost the same (Pennies 20c each etc). Also I went through a collecting hiatus between 2001 and 2018 due to the April 2001 theft of my collection.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Going by the weight of Seated Liberty Coins, I would guess an ounce of silver was around $1.32 in 1850, climbing to $1.36 in 1853 when coins were slightly reduced in size and content (Arrows coins).
In the UK it was coined at 5/6 (66 pence) per ounce as a crown was 10/11 ounce of silver from 1816 to 1919.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
