hone your grading skills -- 1857 large cent

Here's the last of my NEWPs. Please guess the grade that PCGS assigned to the following coin:




Have fun....Mike

 

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I see wear up top on the coin, on the rim, I'd say AU58...BUT.. .I think PCGS overlooked it, and gave it a MS grade..
My grade: AU58 (Really an AU63 slider)
PCGS: MS62
I am going to bet my money, on this being a perfect example of a probable AU coin, getting the BU grade

 

Au 55

 

I love all of that red but this is definitely not my area. I'll call it a low unc.

 

Very nice coin. This is way out of my comfort zone, but I'll throw in a SWAG. I was thinking 63, but that scratch at the base of liberty's neck probably lowered it. I'm going with 61. and I'm torn between rd and rb, so I'll say rrb...

 

63 rb

 

i agree

 

Pcgs ms62 rd

 

I think MS63 RB, mostly due to the marks near the bottom left field and across the curls. But it really has pretty color and the TPG's are pretty lenient with Early American Copper so they might even give it MS64 RB.

 

IMVHO (in my very humble opinion) that is an MS63 RB.
And a VERY nice coin regardless of a what a TPG said!

 

I also agree with 63RB.

 

PS - Another real beauty.

 

AU58

Very nice coin Mike!

Speedy

 

Speedy, you're nuts.

PCGS graded the coin 64 RB, and it is the highest graded RB of this date that PCGS has seen, IIRC.

This coin comes with a long history, having been owned by Jerry Bobbe, Denis Loring, and Heman Halpern, among others.

In hand it is a stunner. Luster is amazing in-hand (and shown very poorly in my photos). The coin is high-end on the RB scale and close to RD, IMO. The nick in the hair (which I didn't notice until I photographed the coin), and the slight discoloration in the fields to the left of Liberty held the coin back.

As an aside, I agree with Penny Lady that PCGS is a bit lenient on these coins, but a better explanation of the grade is that the coin is so close to RD that they gave it a grade bump. So instead of a 63 RD, they gave it a 64 RB -- I see it quite often, and it helps to explain how PCGS grades these coins, IMO. Remember, they don't really grade coins, they price/rank them.

Have fun....Mike

 

Wow - I thought you did a good job showing the luster, but if there is that much I would love to see in hand one day.

 

Believe me, you would. FUN this January perhaps?

p.s. The 55 RB in the other thread is a similar looking coin that didn't come through in the photos either.

 

Ah come on....didn't ya know that I've been watching Doug grade for so long it might be rubbing off

All kidding aside -I know that ya'll are going to say that I'm looking at a weak strike, when I say wear.....but I'm not buying that.
Yes...there is a weak strike on this coin, but I believe that this baby has a bit of wear as well.

Speedy

 

I won't say you're looking at a weak strike, but I will suggest that you are confusing toning with wear on the obverse. The reverse does have some high point friction (looks like it sat in a cabinet or envelope front side up), but nothing near enough to cause PCGS to grade it AU (which as you're aware requires field wear, not high point friction).

 

Well Doug just took the words out of my fingers -
I would also say that wear is wear - toning can't account for lack of detail, and luster.
Cabinet rub is not the case in this coin IMHO - as you said...front side up, and in most cases that would be correct. BUT, I would say that most of the wear is on the front side of this coin.

The stars down near the date, and back of the head look to be weakly struck - therefor I will give on the lack of detail on the hair....but if you look at the hair on top of the head, and above LIBERTY, the beads in the hair, and the hair above the eye, I don't see how you can say that the dis-coloration (sp?), and lack of detail came from cabinate wear.

BTW -The nick in the hair doesn't bother me nearly as much as the hit on the nose.

Speedy