1925 Commemorative Stone Mountain Half Dollar

Discussion in 'What's it Worth' started by Joberstein, Jul 12, 2018.

  1. Joberstein

    Joberstein New Member

    I recently started collecting coins, and I'm finding it difficult as an 18 year old attending college and lacking a job. My first two coins of significance were an AU53 1862 3-cent silver piece and an MS65 Connecticut Tercentenary Commemorative Half Dollar (both PCGS... and gifts from family). Personally, I think that the Connecticut Commemorative is stunning, and living in Connecticut (possible bias) I really wanted the coin. As a result of this, I had done months of research about this coin, and by extension I also learned about the series of commemorative (mostly) half dollars.

    I was at a pawn shop today and saw this coin for $40.00 and decided to buy my first coin of significance. I recalled that most commemoratives were worth about that price in XF condition (obviously excluding the 1892 Columbian and the late 40s early 50s Washington). However, I felt extremely confident, perhaps wrongly so, that this coin was severely mis-evaluated, and thus had the wrong price. So I bought it!

    I don't know what the EH on the bottom left reverse and the "11 17" on the bottom right obverse may mean. (I bought another 1882 Romanian coin in a holder for $2.00 and it also had the same "EH and "11 17"). If you know what this means, please teach me.

    After doing about two hours of research, I couldn't find much help in approximating the coin's grade myself, and I don't feel experienced or educated enough to accurately grade a coin. I also learned about the coin's extremely interesting history; it's extremely high intended mintage and still extremely high actual mintage concerned me.

    Eventually, I decided to try and find some-type of forum, so I found this place. I'm desperate to know what the community (whoever's willing to read this long post) thinks of this coin. I would love to hear any thoughts on the coin's grade/value, what I should do with it, and any other advice to a novice. I would appreciate it very much!

    Stone Mountain Obverse.jpeg Stone Mountain Reverse.jpeg
     
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  3. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    The letters and numbers on the flip are likely the seller's was of inventorying and/or identifying what they have into a coin.

    As for value, I've been out of the game for a few years now and things may have changed, but $40 strikes me as on the high side, unfortunately. However, photos outside the holder may help (it looks lifeless as is) or at least wouldn't hurt.

    Welcome to the forum.
     
  4. Joberstein

    Joberstein New Member

    Unfortunately my phone camera isn't great, looking around at many images of the coin, I think it the coin's design contributes to the lifeless feeling.

    Double checking with PCGS, $40 for an XF is about average, but I think the coin is in much better condition than that. Would there be any way to get a better image of the coin easily? Any tips or tricks?
     
  5. YoloBagels

    YoloBagels Well-Known Member

    I've always wanted to have a stone mountain commemorative half. I'd give this one XF det, harshly cleaned. It's a very nice coin.
     
  6. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Welcome to CT! Go to the section titled “US Coins”. There is an active thread there called Stone Mountain Website. If I had any computer skills I would post a link. Alas, tech skills aren’t in my wheelhouse..... But the fellow has put together a great website on the Stone Mountain piece that’s informative and easy to follow.
     
  7. Joberstein

    Joberstein New Member

    Oh god, "harshly cleaned" is something I don't wanna hear...
     
  8. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    I agree with XF but I see no indication of a harsh cleaning. Raw commem's is a passion of mine. Welcome to the forum Job. :)
     
  9. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    You've a raw coin so what PCGS says isn't applicable, and even then you'd be wise not to take their guide claims as gospel. Also, my suggestion of removing from the flip was made in the hopes of helping you understand that it's always preferable to photo coins outside of holders as well as to try to get a better feel for the surface conditions. The best way for us to help you is by helping us.

    There's a number of older threads that would be helpful in learning to image coins if you care to search them out. If interested, give it a shot. If not having much luck I'll try to dig a few up for you. That said, ensuring your camera (phone) is secure (not hand held) and lighting are probably the two biggest factors; sometimes playing around to see what you can come up with is the best approach.
     
  10. Joberstein

    Joberstein New Member

    I'm not gonna lie, I didn't really see/process your suggestion of taking it out of the slip. The suggestion makes sense though, I think I'll do that. After taking pictures, what'd be the best way to store it, would a coin sleeve be fine?
     
  11. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    If careful you can put it right back into the same flip after re-stapling, of course.

    Before getting into details regarding the other, may I ask what you mean by "coin sleeves"? Do you mean the likes of safety flips or....?
     
  12. Joberstein

    Joberstein New Member

    So that's what they're called. I used to collect cards, and they have a similar function to a card sleeve. That's good to know, thanks.
     
  13. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    Not thinking cleaned
     
  14. USCoinCollector42

    USCoinCollector42 Well-Known Member

    Welcome to the forum. It’s a nice coin and I’d love to own one but the coin you have has some clear flaws.

    Looks cleaned to me... The blast white color is a dead giveaway and the details show signs of cleaning with a brush.

    I could be wrong (I’m no expert on cleaned coins) but this is the deduction I’ve made based on years of experience.

    Hope this helps.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
  15. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    I'm in the cleaned/over-dipped camp too. Too white for the wear showing on the piece and as marked on the 2x2 (XF).
     
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