Should I send any of these in? 1927 Peace Dollar 1834 capped bust half 1902 Barber Half[says proof, but has scratches]
No, I wouldn't! The top two look cleaned and the bottom one has the scratches! Good enough for a collection but no benefit to have graded at all!
1927 Peace dollar: while that's a somewhat better date, I don't think that one needs a slab or would be worth the extra time and expense. Maybe cleaned. And then there's the reeding marks. It's just fine as a raw coin. 1834 Bust half: it's a common date (though I don't know about the variety). Cleaned, but since that's par for the course on Bust halves, I don't know whether they'd consider it "market acceptable" or not. I don't think they would. 1902 Barber half: it is, as you pointed out, hairlined, which is also not unusual on proof Barber halves, and cleaned (likewise not unusual). If you want it in a holder to certify that it is indeed a proof, go ahead and send it in, but otherwise, I see no benefit here. All three of these are decent coins, but just not the best candidates for third-party certification, is all. I'd enjoy them as-is, and not waste the time and money trying to slab them.
First to prove the barber is a proof. The other 2 were just curiosity to me they looked cleaned and that's been confirmed so no questioning them now.
That was my immediate thought too. After looking closely I strongly think the Barber half is fake. Look at the lips closely side by side with a high grade authenticated one. No match. Same with the contours under the nose. Look closely at the earlobes. Again, no match. I can go on, both obv and rev, I just don't see any need to. Oh, and the luster just looks sooo off as well. From PCGS website: The OP coin:
I'm always leery of such differences on early series that I am unfamiliar with. You don't know how many dies were used and whether there were more than one style for any given year. There are many different looks for die creation devices and a few mistakes (using a punch for a different series) on early Mint Dies. But given that, caution should be exercised and expectations should be lowered until you've done your homework. Kudos for seeking advice. You'll get all kinds. Sort through it and see what you get.
No. The last two would come back “improperly cleaned” for sure, and the first one might get the same label.
The 1834 is real...just cleaned and pictured at an angle (looks like from below). It is an example of the Overton 109 die marriage--probably the most common for the year. A bit of trivia...the O-109 was not minted until 1835 despite the date on the coin.
I have quite a few coins that my father collected. Since he really never told me or my brother anything about his collection, we had never collected coins until we got his. Actually, my brother hasn't even opened the box he got his half of the coins. However, I did, and it took me down an ever-ending road of coin collection. I have put all of mine in 2x2s, but until I learn more about coins, I won't be able to decide to slab them, if any. I think coin collecting should be taken in baby steps until you really know what you have and/or getting. My first step would be to learn about the 185X Flying Eagles. I got 3 1857 and 2 1868 FEs. They are nice, but I wouldn't send them in to be graded and most of my father's coins are like that. I don't send in my Mint coins to be graded because as long as I like what I get, they don't need to be graded.