Grade This 1917 SLQ

I here what you're saying too. I rarely buy a high grade, uncertified coin, unless it's real cheap - a price that's acceptable for the problems it could have. Now, if that coin looks completely different than the pics and it's clear the seller covered up major problems, I'll have my money back in a week and scream like heck to eBay.

 

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lol!

 

Yeah, why hasn't Doug chimed in? Guess he's trying to be kind? Nah, that's not Doug's way. lol

 

Seriously, with Leadfoot and others telling you the same message, you have two of the most sincere and experienced, nicest, and informed coinshoppers on SLQs on cointalk giving you the same advice. I'm sure Rich and Mike and Idhair and Doug and Leigh would also concur.

Ruben

 

Hey, I appreciate the advise and I know it's sound. I myself questioned why it wasn't slabbed as did the other 30 bidders who weren't willing to bid over an au price. If I can take better pics with my point & shoot, I'll get them up here, so we can all evaluate the coin and I can learn more about slq's.

 

My best guess, based on the images provided, is AU58FH.

 

I see no evidence that the coin was harshly cleaned.

 

My comment was not based on the photo image , but rather what I think he may receive in hand , speculating that it is probably another EBAY scam . You know Mark , those before and after pictures . It will be a big help if the OP provides his pictures when the coin arrives .

 

Thanks. You might end up being right - I was basing my comment strictly on the image provided.

 

I don't pretend to understand any of this but least of all do I understand a post suggesting a grade of MS with wear. Letting that go, the question is at what point in terms of wear are the advantages of being FH lost? If a really well struck coin somehow slipped into circulation back in 1917 (they spent them then) how far could it wear before you would no longer be able to tell that it was different from a sloppy strike with the same circulation history? AU? EF?

I don't collect US but like SLQ's and would be happy to pay full melt value for any of the coins shown here that others have deamed worthless. The question is where a dipped MS63 FH and a NT non-FH cross price in the market - MS62? - AU?. You really don't know since the TPG folks wont touch what they consider to be cleaned coins leaving coins like this that are too nice for me and not nice enough for you. I know many of you consider both coins beneath your notice but there are those out there that would consider either an upgrade for their VF.

Also because I do not collect US but have collected coins longer than there have been TPG pressures, I was shocked that the OP was surprised that a coin could show wear on the eagle feathers but not on the head. Long ago (pre-slab but after 1917) many of us kept coins in cabinets with sliding trays and round cut outs with cloth/flock linings on which the coins were laid. Most coins went into such accommodations heads up. Every time we opened the drawer, every time a garbage truck passed by, every time the early model central heating and AC units kicked in the vibrations caused the reverse of the coin to wear a very little bit. In ancients, we called it 'cabinet friction'. Considering the amount of 'picky' in today's market, the coin could have received this wear in one second when some 1917 banker slid it (face up and possibly in trade for half a roll of 1909SVDB pennies) across his desk pad or marble teller's counter even before it went in a felt lined tray to be jiggled for decades before someone sent it off for slabbing.

 

Heck I'd be very happy with that coin. MS-63 non FH retails for $350.00. For $240, even if it is dipped, I say you got a screamin' good deal. It seems a lot of collectors on this forum turn their noses up at any coin that's not graded MS-65 or better in an NGC or PCGS slab. That's their prerogative, but for the common man collector out there, that is a nice coin.

 

He almost certainly didn't get a "screamin good deal", and probably not even a good one. A nice PCGS or NGC AU FH example can be bought for less than $200 and an MS62FH for less than $300.

 

How bout the price on an MS-63 FH? I think you might be hard pressed to find one for under $250....

If you can, please post a link to it...I'm interested.

 

That's true, and I would bet that the one in this thread grades lower than that.

Odds are that it's one of many examples of a buyer acquiring an uncertified coin, sight unseen, thinking he got a good deal, when the reality is that he didn't. That is how many sellers of uncertified coins make a lot of money, far more than they would make if they got their coins certified and didn't sell them at inflated grades.

 

I'll be very interested indeed to see what it grades out as, if the OP submits it, when he receives the coin.

 

I'd bet money,marbles and chalk, that the coin that will be received will not grade a 63FH . But of course , there is always a chance that I could be wrong. Won't be the first or the last.

 

You lost me right here....

FWIW - MS coins can certainly have rub makes, contact marks etc, but not circulatory wear (although I was reading in another thread that slabbers will even let some light circulatory wear pass).

 

Thats not the issue, and I think the term "turn their noses up" is not necessary and a bit argumentative. There is a lot to be learned on this forum by collectors who have been buying, selling and grading coins for decades. When they speak, I tend to listen and what I've learned from them I tend to share.

The statements that have been made are valid, and not an issue of opinion. As for being common men, hey I'm a pharmacist...which is as plain vanilla "common man" as you can get. But I've sent a lot of time at the feet of experts as it relates to SLQ and shopping them. I've learned a few things in that time.

Here is a link to a few of the coins I acquired, and you can see some of them for yourself.

http://fairuse.nylxs.com/slq.html

Ruben

 

I appreciate the opinion and respect your expertise, but I disagree. I believe the photo is hiding a wipe for all the reasons I listed, but I don't necessarily disagree with your grade. A AU58 is a strong possibility of this coins real grade IF it is not wiped.

Ruben

 

That too