Shield Nickel RPD

URS scale is an Universal Rarity Scale you'll find a copy in a cherry pickers hand book. an URS of 4 means only 5 to 8 known When you use the Cherry Picker or other reference books the variety listed is given a URS or R factor or Sheldon scale .The R factor the higher the number the rarer the coin. Many like the URS as seems to be more accurate. Here's an example The Sheldon scale would say an 1955 DDO 1 cent would be an R-1 or possible R-2 .That would mean the coin is common. Now a 1955 ddo is a rare coin. The Sheldon scale was developed for early coppers, and used more so in type style coins. The URS scale was developed by Q. David Bowers.
Now a URS-0 = none known URS-1 = 1 known and said to be unique. URS-2 2 known,URS-3 3-4 known and so forth.....
When I looked up your coin and started to compare all the pick up points in the CPG as well as other references books ,they list the variety number,as well as other reference numbers, subsets of varieties,or die states. They list an interest rating by stars **** , and some times Breen numbers. Sometimes they list comments. All this put together helps you find what variety your coin is. It also determines Value . A high R like yours an R-7 or a low URS-4 also tells you just about how many are around or found at shows.
I must admit I myself would be on the fence about soaking this coin only because of it's rarity. I can give you a person who will attribute it . if you want pm me and I'll give you his information. He requires postage from you to return the coin and will image it, and give you the entire low down on your coin.

 

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Thanks for the help with identifying this coin Paddy.

 

Results?

 

@sgt23 It's a 1869 FS-1869-1304 (005.5) repunched date, I cherry picked this piece from the Summer fun show for $17.

 

I would guess he was asking about the acetone soak results

 

Ah, well then, I did not soak it in acetone, maybe I'll get it professionally cleaned be NCS either this month or next month.

 

Don't waste the $

 

I was wondering about both. Thanks!

 

Since the coin in question shows reverse IIa, that can't be the attribution (FS-1304 has reverse IIc). The degree of corrosion makes attribution difficult as it obscures die markers. Nevertheless there are sufficient clues that lead me to an attribution of FS-1306 (5.68), F-105, S2-3002.

 

Acetone isn't going to do anything for that one, as it's in a pretty sorry state, as it is. We take them as we find them. I'm unfamiliar with the attribution, but if you got it, good catch, and that'd be good enough for me.

 

Listing was done in Cherry picker's Volume 1
Printed around 1981and 35 years have passed
Updated volume hasn't been listed computer and download regestry comp slow down program to New Intenet opened.
Books are becoming harder to find under $50.00 sadly.

 

Sorry I don't know what "download regestry comp slow down program to New Intenet opened" means. Please explain.

If your point is that using obsolete reference books to attribute can lead to nonsense attributions, I agree with you.

The date that the attribution was posted to the forum was 7/12/15. Also, "FS-1304" was given. That number is only available in very recent editions of CPG. How do you know what book Paddy54 used? He didn't say.

The original attribution also said "F-408". If one understands Fletcher's numbering system, one doesn't even need photos to know that F-408 is incorrect (because F-408 implies a reverse IIc).

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The above is mostly factual, not opinion. The following is opinion: $50 for a good coin reference book is dirt cheap. You may have little idea how much effort goes into creating a coin reference, and how financially unrewarding it is given the limited market for the work. My shield nickel reference is a money loser - I do it as a labor of love.

If I were to try and print my reference work printing costs would dictate that I'd have to charge well over $100 to break even. That's why I don't offer a printed version - it's a computer program which has low manufacturing costs.

If one spends $50 on a good reference book that helps you with a purchase decision on a $50 coin, that's a very good deal.

 

Thanks for the info Howard, what does S2-3002 mean?

 

1869 S2-3002 is an attribution from my Shield Nickel Viewer:

http://www.shieldnickels.net/snv/snv.html

S2 means second hub pairing (wide date, Obv. a, reverse IIa), 3002 means 3rd RPD catalogued for 1869 S2.