Thoughts on this sweet rainbow toned 1897 Barber Quarter...

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all excited about the weekend...let's get it started off right with this sweet rainbow toned 1897 Barber Quarter I just picked up. I'd love to hear your thoughts as to grade (IMO, having the coin in hand, it's definitely uncirculated) and if you think the toning warrants a bump in value. I don't think it's higher than a 64, so I will keep the poll questions below that.

I am going to be listing it for sale, which is why I'd like to hear what you think about the toning/value.

(second photo added)

​

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Pretty coin! I can't tell if it's a high AU (like 58) or MS 63 (some marks in obv field and on bust). I do like it!

 

It's hard to tell if it is rub or toning. I think it is the former and will thus say AU58. If not, I would say MS63, with eye appeal and luster being the limiting factors.

 

Put me in the can't tell club . The pics need to be clearer . But I'll go with a technical AU-58 . If it is MS no higher than 63 , love the reverse not so much the dark on the obverse .

 

Yeah, the obverse has that dark toning patch covering the chin/mouth area. Doesn't look like wear in hand...but I can understand why it might look like wear in the photos. Reverse is gorgeous in hand.

I might add that the toning hasn't changed since February 6, 1987. (It's in an old NCI (Numismatic Certification Institute) photo cert.)

 

Since you have it in hand and say it's not wear , MS-63 . Even with the dark obverse it's a pretty coin .

 

If not wear, it looks approximately MS63 to me. But don't be surprised if it sells for a discount. I think many will be turned off by the obverse and it might not matter how eye appealing the reverse is in hand.

 

1.) That's not rainbow toned.

2.) Unless I see proof otherwise, the pictures make it look AU-58. If I were bidding on Ebay, that's the price value I'd bid (unless I saw a TPG slab that said otherwise)

 

I can't tell the grade.
However, I'm not turned off by the obverse. I think it's a great looking coin.

 

That's a lot of light on that coin. It looks to me like an AU.

 

I'm gonna say 58 got one an 1892 almost identical in wear and color pcgs au 58 cac bought it raw

 

The reverse has some nice toning, but I wouldn't consider it rainbow. I'd judge it to be AU55-58. Mr. Liberty's cheek keeps me from grading it higher.

 

Hey! I just wanted to say thanks for all the thoughts on this coin!

I've added a second set of photos, just curious if your opinion shifts in either direction (AU or MS.) (FWIW, since we've had a bunch of opinions, the original photo cert does list it as an MS60. Of course, that's just one opinion. LCS also agreed that it was MS, but that it should grade higher than 60. Again, just two more opinions.)

Thanks again!

 

I think you really need to see this coin in hand to determine what's going on with the cheek. I've seen 64's with similar cheek surface disturbances.

 

I agree. It's an interesting experiment in grading coins from photos. I'm basing my judgement on the cheek based on other coins I've seen where the luster is impaired due to the rub - I just don't see that. Bag marks/nicks, yes, which IMO keeps it in the lower MS grades, but I've seen much, much uglier coins straight from mint sets (I'm sure many of you have as well.)

Again, thanks for all the opinions. @Tom B - tried to adjust the light for the second photo and make it a little dimmer. Always trying to improve my photo skills, so thanks for pointing that out!

 

I see a wonderful AU-63

 

+ 1 you beat me To it

 

My opinion stays the same even with the new photos. It looks AU58 to me, but I would need to see it in hand to rule out that what I am interpreting as rub is due to toning. Even if the piece was uncirculated, I see it grading no higher than MS63.

 

Indeed....over-used term. This coin is rainbow toned:

 

I still think describing that as rainbow toning is a bit generous. It looks like target toning from a proof set to me. I'm not quite sure, I would call that rainbow toning.