Bought a lot of around 100 V-nickels recently for a very decent price, not too much in terms of amazing dates however this 1895 was in decent enough condition to single and is a somewhat of a better date. Would anyone with more experience than myself care to give an estimate of a grade on this one? There is nice detail on Lady Liberty, but the 'Li' of 'Liberty' is worn... I'm thinking perhaps a VF30 but with the dark coloring its somewhat difficult to tell, am I way off? What do you guys think? Thanks in advance! (can provide more photos if necessary - the color of it made capturing good pictures kind of difficult)
The sharpness was probably EF when it was lost or put somewhere that moisture could get to it. Now it's corroded and in poor condition. You see this more than you might think among hoards of Liberty Nickels. Sadly it's often found on the coins with the most detail. Crusty black is a very bad color for nickels and other coins that are made from nickels, including the modern clad coinage. It reflects severe environmental damage and lowers the value considerably.
Appreciate the help @potty dollar 1878 - the guy who sold them to me had found them underneath floorboards of a house built in 1902, he seems to think that they were a young boy's hoard from a paper route or something like that. So @johnmilton you seem spot on with that analysis in terms of the environment the nickels were stored in. Regardless of value, definitely will keep ahold of this one - the details are enough for me to look past the discoloration, and I like the story behind where it was found.
I purposely avoided reading any of the other posts so not to be influenced (gonna look right after I post). This is easily a XF Details, Bordering on AU.
I agree with this. Hoards with a story behind them are cool. I have a fairly ugly Civil War token that was found behind the walls of an old building that was taken down in New York City. It's got an odd color and some plaster stuck to it, but the story is interesting. The worst $50 Panama - Pacific gold piece that I have ever seen was recovered from the behind the walls of a razed building. The coin was damaged which destroyed a lot of the value. It went unsold on the show circuit for over a year. Of course the fact that the asking price was over $20,000 had something to do with that. It was PCGS certified.
If it was normal I would put it at XF40 possibly AU if there was visible luster in the fields. I'm at VF details-net VF35 the way it is now.
