1883 Liberty Head Nickel, No Cents.

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Profit man, Dec 8, 2014.

  1. Profit man

    Profit man Active Member

    Thoughts on the grade?

    Thanks for looking. image.jpg image.jpg
     
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  3. Kirkuleez

    Kirkuleez 80 proof

  4. coinman1234

    coinman1234 Not a Well-Known Member

  5. sshafer11

    sshafer11 Head Research Assistant - Coin Show Radio

    Tough to say by those pics because they don't show us any luster at all. What's strange to me is just how razer sharp the lines in the hair appear and yet you have weakness in other areas like the stars. Something just isn't right to me about that coin. Usually in AU examples (and even many lower end UNCs) you see a lot of flatness above the ear. This example is razer sharp except for the hair strands close to her forehead. I'm not an expert on this series but it looks questionable to me.
     
  6. Kirkuleez

    Kirkuleez 80 proof

    To me there are a couple of things that help with grading this coin. I always use the stars to determine strike quality; here the lower stars show strike weakness and misalignment. This is some of the reason for the reverse weaknesses. But the hair clearly shows some (but light) wear, so I went AU-50 because of the lack of luster.
     
  7. mitch721

    mitch721 New Member

    It appears to be an AU53 to AU55 with grime and dirt. But, I
    think that it technically fits the grade. Cleaning coins is usually taboo, but I think that a mild soap and some water would help in this case. ONLY my opinion! The owner must decide.
     
  8. phankins11

    phankins11 Well-Known Member

    I find it odd that the left reverse ear of corn is showing no kernels while the right shows the kernels very clearly. I know these can have strike weakness, and that ear of corn would be right around probably the highest point on the obverse. I've just never seen that big a difference in strike between the two ears of corn at the bottom on the reverse. Bottom 3 ibvers stars are weak. I also see some, but not much, flatness on the hair. I wonder if its been cleaned in the past. Most of the AU/MS examples I've seen have some lustre. I think overall it's just a weak strike in some areas. Maybe all that grime is keeping the lustre hidden.
     
  9. Profit man

    Profit man Active Member

    image.jpg This is a different coin, would this grade higher or lower than the original coin posted? image.jpg
     
  10. phankins11

    phankins11 Well-Known Member

    IMO details and strike are better, but this one looks cleaned a lot more than the first example.
     
  11. Goodoleandrew

    Goodoleandrew New Member

    First coin au,
    Second coin au but cleaned.
     
  12. Mainebill

    Mainebill Bethany Danielle

    Au 53-55 on the first an acetone soak would help it. Looks lacking in luster but could just be dirt or the pic The second looks xf 45 color seems strange too could be the pic
     
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