I'd think the price is neither good nor bad, just OK. There's an NGC F12 on EBay for $165. Much better detail than a G4, tho' a bit dark, maybe.
Well based off of your description, it is around G6-VG8. Graded, the average a G6 goes for is $86.20 in NGC or PCGS, and the average a VG8 goes for is $104.90. However, some VG8's look better than some G6 coins, so it depends. If you are planning on sending it over to get graded, get closer to $75-80 to make a possible profit, if you are just buying to resell raw, aim for $60, and if it to buy and not sell ever, aim for around $90. Basically bargain to get the lowest possible. Never forget to bargain.
Where are you getting your prices? On EBay, nearly anything that isn't an obvious problem coin (and some that are) is going for $90+.
What I do is I go on pcgscoinfacts.com and I find the latest auction prices realized (5 from NGC, 5 from PCGS) and I average them out and get those numbers. The numbers for what he should ask are based on profit and losses from grading and fees on eBay if he wants to sell it there.
So I bought the nickel for $100. here's a pic i think its even better then i described it. What do you think?
Damaged. Close to a fair price anyway. But I would try to get it for less. There are 2 huge gouges of missing metal on the obverse. As for the grade if you average both sides, I would be 04/08 net grade G-06 details.
I would have passed (if I needed a 12-S to fill a hole). I don't like the two obverse gouges. Those gouges would be all I see every time I looked at it. Steve
Plus, no one has yet addressed "cleaning" issues. So Don, this should be a good teaching point. Seek advise before you commit to something you have little knowledge about. Fortunately, you didn't pay a severe penalty, & these are always fun to have, but I think you can see that most of us here would have passed on this coin. There are much better options to spend $100 on. Just sayin'...
Here's a little piece of history for you. The entire 1912-S mintage was struck during Christmas week (between Christmas and New Years) of 1912. It is more than likely that they were the last Liberty Nickels struck by the Federal Government ... aside from the 1913 Liberty Nickels which were "midnight miracles."
