Please, how would you grade this coin (photos below) ? I bought it several years ago. It is really a nice looking one. The brazilian 2000 reis it is like the morgan dollars, same size, silver. Very collectible. Recently, Heritage sold one of these (AU 58) for $1000 but I think mine has a better condition. No signs of circulation, with some small scratches. It is very rare with only 1190 pieces minted. --------------------------------------------- Pedro II 2000 Reis 1886, Rio de Janeiro mint, KM485, Russo-P656, AU58 NGC. With a mintage of 1,190 pieces, this is the key-date of an otherwise common four-year type, and rarely encountered near mint state.
I am familiar with these coins. IMO, your coin is an AU. It is the wrong color for an Uncirculated coin. I see enough wear to be AU 50-53 range. Note: I'm giving an opinion of the GRADE ONLY.
Just so I can learn, can you point out the area(s) of wear? Is the hair partly to blame? I ask this because we so often see weakness in the hair of Morgan dollars. TIA! Chris
What's TIA? Now, blow up the photo of the obv. First, the color is wrong. Silver coins that are gray or shiny are 95% not original. Look at 5 o'clock: S.DEF. Can you see the color inside the "D" and around the F. vs the color of the field? That is the "halo effect from the circulation OR the "old cleaning." Now, look at the hair curls (also on the beard) over the ear and back. That is friction wear not strike weakness. There is dirt on the curls and see if you can see the v. slight change of color (whitish) on top of the gray (circulated) surface. This is a worn coin and NOT EVEN CLOSE to Uncirculated. Very often circulation wear show a "target pattern" First the original wear; then toned down; then more wear. Was all this clear enough? Hope so.
It means "Thanks in advance" Yes, I wasn't sure about other areas because not only do I not collect foreign coins, but I have never seen this particular one before. The hair became suspect for me as soon as you mentioned "AU" because I'm used to seeing Morgans graded both ways (MS/AU) from the hair. Chris
Obverse seems to show loss of luster in the fields vs. the protected areas. Not a bad coin, but not Unc. from what I see. I keep my eyes open for older world crowns and it seems like an awful high percentage of this type are cleaned in my observation.(not saying this one is cleaned, looks pretty good to me)
Excellent analysis and very helpful read as I do collect Brazilian/Portuguese coins from the monarchy period. I particularly like the 960 Reis variations (countermarked/overstruck) with either the Rio de Janeiro or Bahia mint stamps. Based on the coin I can see I would concur that this coin has been circulated. I would guess that it might grade an AU-55 based on similar Brazilian Reis coins I have. You are correct about the low mintage. One does not often find a Peter II coin in this condition. Good luck
I would say its a cleaned AU 50 also, the first indicator for non-MS status being there is no cartwheel of luster visible, not even traces around the legends. If your looking for wear, check out the point of the kings mustache. (hint - the kings mustache is a good first wear point to check on Many world coins)
It's always a good place to look, as it tends to be one of the higher points in the design. But, it also tends to be one of the weakly struck areas on many coins, so it can be misleading if the person looking can't discern weak strike from wear.
Thank you for your opinions. It looks like cleaned but a long time ago and very well done, no visible marks. Maybe I should post photos with different light. Let me give a few examples of certified 2000 reis for comparison:
