1798 Quarter Eagle - GTG

XF

 

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My grade was VF details as well, but...

Old holder even. Glad to see it did not sell. The owner is going to be stuck with it for a long time.

 

And I thought I was being extremely lenient with the grade. So PCGS is saying that there is luster hiding around the devices.
I could possibly see AU50 Details. But this seems pretty ridiculous.

 

How did they know the value of the coin when it's not minted on there anywhere? Literacy rates were lower 220 years ago, and some people are not going to know the value of this coin without a numerical denomination minted on it.
Perhaps it got some leeway being 1798.
A more modern gold in this condition is VF-35/ XF-40 to me.

 

You mean the face value? By its size. I do agree it does seem odd they omitted it early on.

 

I know coins this old are graded generously but this is just too generous. The coin is XF at best and has what is probably tooling marks on the obverse. Not to mention everyone saying cleaned, but it can be hard to tell with gold.

 

Denomination didn't appear on coinage until the 1804 quarter dollar. People were more familiar and apparently used to determining what coinage was by the using size/weight of silver/gold coins.

The coin in question graded technically would be much lower imo. But we have to remember that TPG's market grade and the general rarity and survival numbers of the coin in question and the overall condition of the entire population of those coins heavily factor into the grading.

 

I get that they market grade, but to me, that just "cheapens" the surviving coins that were not harshly cleaned, holed, tooled, scratched, etc....

 

You had us all going on this one, @TypeCoin971793. You're a tricky guy.

 

Another thing worth considering is how it was probably time intensive to make a die, so they likely wanted to make sure that if they made a reverse die that it would be used in one way or another. You’ll notice that the quarter eagles and the dimes of this era had essentially equivalent diameters, so the reverse dies could be used interchangeably if they did not have a stated denomination. In fact, all 1807 dimes were made with a reverse die that was used to make quarter eagles in prior years.

You’ll also notice that the half dollars and eagles are the same diameter and lack denominations. This is likely for the same reason, but I don’t think there are any reverse dies that were used to make both denominations.

 

I'm late to the party. I would have guessed VF details as well. There is just no way that should have graded AU-50. That one is truly in a tomb.

 

I never get blind graders when I send something in. I get ones with imaginations that see things not present.

 

VF details, obverse damage & tooling.

 

Wow... didn't see the grade until after I posted. That coin has obvious problems, from the large dig (considering the size of the coin) in the left obverse field, to the multiple small digs/cuts on Liberty's nose, lower neck, bust and drapery, and the obvious tooled area in the right obverse field just to start things off. That coin has had quite a bit of rough handling and subsequent work.

 

my first impression was vf, tooled; then after seeing the grade I looked through the pcgs apr's and I see that they are usually weak in the centers. Even so, I have a hard time seeing it as better than xf. Then there is the tooling/smoothing in the right obv field. I suspect this is a "coffin coin" for 2 reasons: It's in that holder forever, and the owner is probably buried too.

 

This is why you buy the coin and not the holder. You avoid mistakes like this.

 

They blew this one. And it’s why it’s never been cracked or tried for a higher grade. It’s a dud in every way and will always be a problem coin. Holder or no

 

I didn’t even notice the tooled area. Saw enough wrong without that

 

I still don’t get why there is a curve. I can understand a bump for color as the grade they assign will assign the market value (regardless of the confusion it causes when a premium MS-65 graded MS-66 is traded as a premium MS-66), but to give it a bump just because it is rare has no logical basis.

I have a coin that is very rare, but broken. I will grade it as problem-free because it is so rare. See? Makes no sense.

 

Then argue with the TPG's over it, but imo it's a losing fight. Seems it only continues to get worse if you view and grade every coin from a technical standpoint. Not just loose grading on rarer coins/key dates but also loosening grading standards in general. I mean if you look at it from the business aspect of the TPGs though it makes perfect sense. They are in business to make a profit not ensure the integrity of established coin grading standards.