Too expensive, but I got it anyway . . .

For my PCGS AU or better Type Set. It's more than I wanted to spend, but after two coin shows of not finding anything, I could not help myself. This coin is going into my top 5 favorite coins I own.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

She’s a beauty! A great addition.

 

Nice!

 

that's a real beauty!

 

Sweet looking babe of a coin!

 

That was worth it. I'm on the hunt to fill a CBH spot in my type and if I would have been at that show and got there first, you most likely would have left empty handed again. Congrats on that find.

 

Well done. Congratulations.

 

Really Nice Coin!
Looks better than AU58.

 

1833 Capped Bust Half
I'm liking the time period and the coin, well done.
It's probably a good thing I have too many hobbies to focus on just one all these good looking coins can be hard on the wallet

I'm with Sal, the coin is undergraded.

 

No, it isn't. The only grade above this is AU-58+ (which I think is a ridiculous grade to begin with), or you start getting in to UNC grades.

There is obvious wear on the high points and it has obviously been cleaned. It is a nice coin, for sure, but it is far too white. This coin should have some skin, some patina on it. This has been dipped within the last year.

 

Not sure why only one person pointed it out, the coin isn’t lustrous at all and shouldn’t have received a straight grade. I’d replace it with one which isn’t completely white but has more original surfaces and remaining luster.

 

Unfortunately, people want to seem nice.

I get it, Russell posts a coin they are very happy to get. People want to seem nice and they want praise so they praise them. Nobody wants to seem mean.

That either means they don't know any better, or they don't want to be honest.

I choose honesty.... and if I ever post a coin I'd hope y'all would do the same.

 

I'm unfamiliar with this coin's basics...can someone point out to me where there is wear and how/why you can tell it is too "white" ?

 

Why do I think there’s too much wear for an AU58? Because Liberty’s hair appears to be too flat, missing details.

Why is it too white? Its surfaces are missing luster and do no show any colors or toning.

See https://www.pcgs.com/news/how-united-states-coins-are-graded

AU58 - The barest trace of wear may be seen on one or more of the high points of the design. No major detracting contact marks will be present and the coin will have attractive eye appeal and nearly full luster, often with the appearance of a higher grade.

 

You can see the wear on the curls of her hair, the top of her cap, and on her breasts. These are all high points on the coin. It appears as slight flattening and a slightly different color.

As for being "too white" - a coin of this age should have patina. It should have some brown or grey color to it. This coin is bright white, but you can see traces of the toning that was removed in the protected areas of the stars and around some of the lettering on the reverse.

 

From these single images, how can you distinguish high point wear from a less than full strike? In hand, where I can rotate the coin under light, I can sometimes tell the difference. From single photos, it's a total crapshoot, at least for me. PCGS called it AU after in-hand inspection, and I'm not going to second guess them.

From these photos, I see a coin with booming luster in the fields, and no indication of hairlines. Yes, it's likely been dipped, but not enough to impair the luster.

 

That was the subject of some roaring debates over on the PCGS Forums a while back.

Fascinating, with sharp guys on both sides.

 

I see flat toned grey metal on the cheek, the breast just above the neckline, the top of the cap, and above the eye, indicating light wear. I think most of the flatness on the hair is due to strike. Really can't judge luster from a static photo but I bet the coin has a nice cartwheel effect. I think if you wanted to show a friend or relative what a bust half looked like just as it popped out of the screw press, this would be about as close as you can get without spending a fortune.

 

Let’s assume the coin was poorly struck and there’s no or virtually no wear. In this case it’s more likely they downgraded an UNC coin to AU58 for the obvious cleaning and missing luster.

 

I don't think you can conclude from the images that the coin has been physically cleaned. I don't see patches of hairlines, and the surfaces aren't mirror like as you would see with polishing. It has been dipped, without doubt, and whatever original skin it had is gone.