I'm sure this has been hashed and re-hashed here several times but why not again for old time's sake? How many here have found a special AG coin they found so alluring that they had to have it?
I purchased my first AG coin yesterday. An 1838-O dime. Along with another L.S. 'G' dime for a total of $24.00. I was prepared to pay 40-50 for the pair (which would have been a fair price) but, once again, thank you bad economy.
I'm sure many people, including myself in the past, may scoff at or simply give the cold shoulder to the typical AG coin. Usually seeking a 'better' example to collect, of course. And for many issues, maybe it would make no sense at all to buy an AG example. To me though, this was a true, 'feel good' purchase without breaking the bank. That doesn't happen for me too often anymore.
Or, often enough I should say.
Now, I love proofs and BU, MS coins just as much as the next guy. But I believe the true 'coolness' of the AG coin often times isn't appreciated as much as it should be. Really, the AG coin is the true collector's coin in it's own unique right. They are unbelievable survivors.
Take this 1838-O dime for example. The N.O. mint was built in 1837 with the 1838 dimes being I believe the first coins to roll off the presses. One of two years with no stars or motto on the obverse. It rolled off with 406,033 of it's buddies, and got dumped out to circulation as a shiny new instrument of commerce. At a time when coinage was in short supply and in high demand.
Today, that coin is still with us, but now only the design is outlined. The date is readable, and the lettering around the edge is almost totally worn off on the reverse. The wreath totally worn down as well. You can't help but wonder how long it would take for a coin to degrade to this state? How much use would it have had to seen? Incredible really.
You have to think back and realize how important of a role change used to play in society. Change used to have so much more value. Even in the 1960s, a dime would buy a candy bar or a bottle of pop. In the 50s it would buy a gallon of gas. So imagine what a simple dime would buy from 1838 to the late 1800s?
The special part about it?? This coin was not stashed away and forgotten.
It was sent out into the world and used heavily for what was probably many decades. It was probably still circulating during and after the Civil war. Just to think that somehow it made it. It didn't fall out of a hard working farmer's pocket into a field. It didn't get lost by a drunk, on a battle field, fall out of a pocket into the ground, or get lost under a counter somewhere. It didn't fall into a body of water, down a grate, lost in furniture, or lost over-seas. And finally, the major obstacle towards the end of it's useful life...... it did not end up back at a bank, pulled from circulation and melted like it most likely would have and should have been.
Somebody decided to decommission it and stash it away as a collectors piece, or finally it was forgotten about in a drawer. It served it's primary purpose for many decades, as a dime, for hundreds of people, if not thousands. And somehow survived it all to end up in my collection.
Besides that, the AG end of the spectrum is affordable and the least likely to be counterfeited, as natural wear is probably not the easiest or cost effective thing to want to produce.
Another key factor: AG coins are probably a thing of the past. Modern day stuff no longer has enough value to warrant circulating as much as the old stuff did. The grade itself no longer has a use.
To that extent, it makes you wonder if some day they won't have a premium like toned coins do now? As stated earlier, most small coins that would see so much use would be lost or melted before somebody could save them. Or maybe they'll never really be appreciated by collectors for what they went through and only be looked upon as worn out cast-aways?
Who knows? I don't care what people do. I won't be the one begging for higher prices. The cheaper they are, the more I can buy and appreciate for myself.
I'll post a pic and a weight after I receive it. I'm sure it's well underweight.
gotta love it ! 
The other L.S. dime I got is surely a strong 'G' so I've got all of 14 bucks wrapped up in this coin. NGC lists a 'G' at 48.00. I think it is a pretty cool issue too. I can see buying another one of these some day.
Hybrid Mode
