I was curious what you guys thought the details grade of this coin would be. It's an 1854 $1 Gold Type 2. I know it is damaged, it's scratched up on the obverse and a little on the reverse and is thus ungradable...but I'm not great at grading these. What do you think the details grade of this coin is?
I agree with Mark though on details grade. I also have an ngc AU-50(that I think is a bit overgraded, but whatever). Here's mine for comparison.
When I first saw the coin I said EF, then I thought about it for a bit, then came back to the thread. I'd give it a EF45 details, the leaves on the AU50's have less wear Nice coin
I think I see the typically found clashed dies on it, and I have yet to see a counterfeit with that feature. I can't guarantee that there aren't any, only that I haven't seen one. If you see a gold coin with copper spots/stains and or clashed dies, chances are excellent that it is genuine.
Let's see an XF 45 with the detail of the coin at the top of this thread, please? If you show us one, I'll find two more that are graded AU.
T$ goes off to heritage and ebay's completed listings... If I find one, I will be back If not... Well, you were right and I was wrong
You might find a few, though I hope you wont spend too much time looking. But my pont is that even if you do, I believe that there will be more (with that amount of detail) that are graded AU. Edited to add: More important than right and wrong is the exchange of information and learning, and that applies when I am wrong too.
http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=29061&Lot_No=20793 This one is awfully close to the coin we are comparing to. Only thing I see lack of detail in comparison to the original coin, is the headdress, other than that, this comes very close
Out of the 5 I just looked at, compared to AU's, yes the original coin does look closer to AU And that EF40 that I posted link to, has the best details of an EF I saw... Looks better than some of the EF45's by NGC and PCGS, IMO
Good point. Where are you seeing clashed dies on the OP coin? I see something kind of going on in the field in front of liberty, but I'm unsure.
This is one particular series even I think the TPGs overgrade. That said, I'd TPG details-grade the coin AU (to me, that's an XF coin), and net it down quite a bit for the cleaning/damage. Regardless, it is still a cool coin and an example of a tough type coin & thank you for sharing...Mike
I have a question along a different line. The Type II G$1 began in 1854 - same year as the $3 gold. Both designs feature an Indian princess. The designs are similar but different. One year later, the Type III G$1 design came out with an Indian princess identical to the $3. Why was it different in 1854 ? Anybody know the history of this ?
The only thing I know is that they changed the size of the princess head on the 1855 due to the tendency of the coin with the smaller head to easily become bent. The larger device made the coin more robust overall. At least this is what I have read. I'm not sure why they originally used the smaller head.