Any body got any ideas? Any ideas on a grade if it looks good to you? *This coin is in a problem free holder, I just feel something is off though and want some opinions*
My concerns are that there is something wrong with this coin and I just want to see if anyone else has any thing that they are seeing wrong with it. I personally like the coin, but that smooth golden color is throwing me off and makes me wonder if this coin is really as good as it looks. I'm trying to be vague to keep any bias out of what people may or may not see. If it helps, just consider this thread like a 'guess the grade'
I don't think I have seen a CBH with that golden color. It could be the lighting ? Here is 52 pages of early halfs at NGC. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=963846&fpart=1 There are several members that have a huge number of CBH's
The lighting has been strongly manipulated, which is the only thing I can see wrong with the coin. If I were to guess the grade, I would think it would fall in the AU range.
I don't know how you mean manipulated, but I only held the coin at the only angle I could to eliminate the reflection of the bulbs from over head, and I shot it with an iPhone so probably not the best camera. The coin is really that goldish color in hand, it's really a nice coin. To me it looks like this coin was in a cabinet and it has drawer friction with how there isn't any toning on the highest spots on the reverse. Those bare spots also look the most worn and I feel like that would happen with little movements back and forth as the drawer is pulled out and pushed back in. Just where my mind went, could be way of base though.
Looks like the coin is toning. The gold, red and blue areas. The dies are in the LDS/VLDS causing the devices to have flow lines toward the rim. There is also uneven wear on some high points of the coin. But overall a nice looking coin for it's age.
I don't see anything wrong with it, looks like a nice AU coin to me. Personally I'd grade it 55, it just has bit too much wear on the reverse to qualify as a 58 in my opinion. And no, I don't think it got that from cabinet friction either. Cabinet friction as a general rule tends to show up evenly across the high points of the coin because the coin is laying perfectly flat all the time. On this coin that does not happen, there is wear on some high points and not on others and uneven wear typically only happens in actual circulation.
The images make me believe that the luster may not be completely natural between Liberty's lowest curls and stars 10 through 13, disqualifying the coin from a mint state grade. If it's just the images misleading me, and there is full mint luster that area, then I think QT is the only concern I might have, and then only if the coin has been assigned a mint state grade. The color is unnaturally uniform over almost the entire surface of the coin. For comparison, I've got a CBH on the website that is similarly gold in color, but a great example of what natural toning should look like. If in a no problem holder lower than MS60, I think it is very pleasing for the grade, and a good buy regardless.
If you paid AU money, and you like the coin, you did exceptionally well. Nice AU58 CBHs are too cheap, in my mind.
$600, which I thought that was a fair price. It's just when I received the coin it looked too good to be true and I wanted to try and garner unbiased opinions on it to see if there was any major problems with it that I was missing. Incredibly clean and smooth coin. In my eyes more of an AU-62(3). In hand there are almost no hairlines except for that right field behind lady Liberty.
Those lines behind Lady Liberty are die scratches. They should not affect the grade. But the contact marks are the real grade droppers. I still like the coin. Imagine how much it cost somebody to put this back when it was first struck? 50 cents today is nothing compared to what it was then. Found this: http://www.teachushistory.org/detocqueville-visit-united-states/articles/debit-economy-1830s-new-England
Looks like a winner to me slight wear where I'd call it high au is basically an good ms coin with some cabinet wear it never appears to have actually been in circulation I love the gold color too I've seen it in some other bust halves but not as strong a beauty and a good price
It had an opening bid of $600 and a Buy It Now for $1000. I put the minimum bid and lo and behold three days later I had to find a way to pay for this beauty. Matt over @LostDutchman has been helping me out a lot lately in providing some fundage for new coins. I think ive finally worked my way back through most of my unwanted coins and have been focused on acquiring some better pieces as of late.
Personally I love it the color and clean fields would've sold it to me I've never tried to collect bust coins including halves but I sure seem to have a lot of em especially halves
I dont collect them specifically either, but if a nice one comes along like this one I will try and grab it. That applies to a few designs though. I just really like nice eye appealing coins that are affordable to an average-moderate collector. I also really like Half Dollars and Quarters specifically as for denominations and will generally try and acquire anything from the Bust series thru the Kennedy's on the halves and the Seated thru the SLs on the quarters. I dont like what I consider 'tiny' coins too much, unless its a nickel for some reason. I also stay away from actively collecting dollars. I have the major keys to the peace dollar set (except an MS 34-s), dont care much for morgans other than the few I have as examples, and cant afford the seated dollars at the moment. I also avoid copper unless its a high AU or Mint State large cent. But yes, this bustie is an amazing coin the more I look at it and play with it. I cant believe how clean everything looks and really feel like this is a case of an AU-63/64 type coin. There are literally like no hairlines on the coin and only a handful of abrasions on the face of liberty. You really cant ask for any better. Heres another question about this coin that I would like to know the answer to. On the reverse, there are some high points like the top of the eagles head and the left wing (as viewing) that appear silvery (not toned) and are quite smooth. Is that wear or is that a soft strike of those elements?