Have I been taken? Bust half dollar (Update: Yes, I have!) I went to a coin show this past weekend to get re-acquainted with the coin scene after a 9 year absence, and to get a feel for what certain coins were going for these days. Well... I saw a coin I just couldn't put down, spent WAY more then I had anticipated, and now I am having some buyer's remorse. The toning on the coin really grabbed me, it is much more colorful in person then it appears in the pictures. I don't currently have access to a good digital camera, so this is a scan of the coin that turned out alright... but it has that "scanned look" unfortunately. So, here is the game, tell me what grade and value you would assign to this coin, and I will come back to tell you what it was marked and what I paid. This will answer the question "Have I been taken?" ~Droid
I would call it EF-45. In EF (EF-40) this coin Grey Sheets at $130. $65 in VF & $280 in AU-50. The reverse has less wear than the obverse but the obverse is the "money side" of the coin and weighs more heavily on the grade. It may be a rare Overton variety. Unfortunately, our CBH expert who could tell you the variety is no longer with us.
Nice coin AU-53 , $375-450 , realy like the colors too , you have a very nice coin there , even if you overpayed , I'm sure you 'll grow to like it , and chalk the over paying as a lesson learned . rzage
Looks AU to me. Very common date. Normally I'd say a real world price of $250-300. But, with the toning, like we've discussed in previous threads, it would probably go another 10% over that. Personally, I would pay about $200-250, but no more. Guy~
I would say AU-50 at least. Shield and right wing have a little wear but it looks to be a really nice coin with some luster remaining.
Not the expert that some are, I'd go AU+. Possibly unc, but hard to tell with these pictures. I don't see any signs of wear, so I'll reserve comment.
I would also say AU+. Looks really nice. I would not be surprised if this coin was between 600 and 700. The coin looks really nice. My only comment is - if you are happy with the coin then that is what is important. The key to preventing "buyers remorse" is to know what you are buying and what the going prices are for the various grades. Especially if buying raw coins. It will probably happen again - sometimes you just find coins you really like and buy, even though you are not prepared. Dealing with a trusted dealer will provide some comfort.
Look at the shield, unless this is typical of a weak strike for detail to be missing, there's definitely wear there.
I may have been a little harsh with saying EF-45 so I could believe AU-50 or AU-53. I cannot call this coin MS. I definitely see wear. The luster is broken in many places. If the shield (and other places) was weakly struck it would still have luster on the weak areas.
I've seen some MS slabbed coins that have apparent luster breaks just like this, well maybe not so blatant but still there, so I don't know *shrug* I usually look for definite rub instead.
Thanks for everyone's comments. I will say that I made two mistakes here... 1) Don't go to a coin show and buy an expansive coin immediately after coming off a 9 year break in collecting. 2) Make sure you have an accurate pricing reference. I had notes for type value prices of current bust halves, but it looks like they were quite a bit high for whatever reason, should have checked a grey sheet before I went any further. Unfortunately no, I have attributed it as a O-102, which is a R.1 This is typical of the die pair. In general the 1931's were made with sub-par dies, and the O-102's are notorious for weakness. In fact I have seen pictures of O-102 in MS condition where the stripes on the shield are completely filled in. In terms of the variety this is actually fairly well struck So here is the deal. It was marked MS-63, I knew that wasn't the case but I did think that it was around AU-58 when I bought it. The toning really caught me, I literally saw it from the next table over and had to have it (it looks a lot nicer in real life, I might need to buy a new camera to get better pictures). Now that I have it and spent some more time with it I am thinking it is closer to AU-55. My pricing reference said AU-50 was $400 and MS-60 was $1,100, so with as nice as the toning was I didn't feel too bad paying $1,200 for it. Now that I think it is AU-55 and I see from below that my reference pricing was wrong I defiantly made a mistake! Oh well, live and learn, I will send it in to a TPG to get a second opinion, especially since the value changes with grade quite quickly on the upper end of bust halves. There is always the posibility that I will get a nice supprise out of it. ~Droid
You have the coin in hand. I would not be surprise if in came back MS. Pictures and scans can at times make the luster look dull or broken. The weak strike associated with these coins does make a difference. To me it looks like a really nice coin. Besides MS63 coins are going for a lot more than 1200 looking at heritage. While I do not think your coin is a 63 I would not be surprised with a low MS.
Droidicus.....make sure you let us know what grade it comes back at. I'm leanining mint state (fingers crossed).
