Lincoln commem Half

http://cgi.ebay.com/1918-LINCOLN-COMMEMORATIVE-SILVER-HALF-DOLLAR-50c-UNC-/300503807431?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item45f76c35c7

I'm trrying to collect everything lincoln right now. I came across this on Ebay. This seems to be cheaper than anything I've found that's unc. Has this been cleaned?

Thanks

Edit, sorry for the small images, I haven't figured out how to upload correctly yet. You can see it larger if you click on the link

 

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Personally, I would not not pay that amount for this commemorative. I'd continue shopping.

 

I bought one about a month ago for 110. Mine hasn't been cleaned and isn't as blast white as that one. I think cleaning is likely. I also wonder about the spot under the eagle's neck.

 

Thanks for the advise. I'm really pretty new at collecting....well it's been decades. There is only one local coin dealer and he doesn't have much so it's pretty much the internet for me. I guess I'll have to be patient. I have a lot to learn.

 

The main thing, have patience . It will save you many dollars . I think you could get a very nice problem free example for not more more than this one is being offered for. If you notice, there aren't a bunch of folks jumping all over this one.

 

My Mom drew this when she was a young girl more than 75 years ago.

Chris

 

Very nice pencil art.

 

99% Confident, cleaned

 

I'd pass on this one my friend. It's a real crap shoot when you buy classic commem's unholdered and the one you relate in the OP is suspect indeed......

 

The spot by the eagle seems to be casting a shadow, therfore I'd say it's debris. However, I wouldn't buy due to apparent harsh cleaning. There are alot of lines on this coin.

 

With the 1918 Illinois Commemorative Half Dollar, I'd pretty much stay away from all of the more boring white looking coins that are in the AU58-MS63 range as many of them have been cleaned and they mostly look pretty beat up... depending on your budget you can get a much much better looking coin...

if you're budget is in the $100 or so range, maybe even a little less, you can likely get a cooler looking coin if you go for a lightly circulated XF example that has a bit of dirt in the crevices, perhaps an ex. pocket piece. I find a lightly to medium circulated example of this coin much much more interesting than a boring white low mint state example... as long as there are no unattractive spotting or rim damage or anything like that.

of course if you can save up until you can spend $200 or a little more, you can occasionally find some really attractive MS64 examples (or MS65 if you can go up to $250-$300)... sure, you can find plain white MS64 coins for $160-175 or so, but for a few bucks more I've seen some very nicely toned near gem examples. For example, the coin below is an NGC MS64 example that I bought a couple of years ago for about $250 (maybe a $50 premium over a plain white example at the time):



I've bought dozens of 1918 Illinois Halves in the past few years and generally, it's been my experience that it's very very very hard to find a special, attractive IL half in the $125-$175 price range. But there are some great ones just above and just below that range.

Remember, around 100,000 of these were made so you can afford to be very very selective and patient when choosing the one for your collection! Unless you're going to sell within the next few weeks/months, there are much more important considerations than price.


And of course, if you're willing to spend a bunch more (about $2000 or so), you can get a PCGS MS67 CAC example like this one I bought last year... not the best one, but not too bad so I got it:




Best of luck finding the right coin for you!!