Circulated Walking Liberty Half Dollars

I have been learning a tremendous amount under the excellent tutelage of some expert Walker collectors, but I thought I would open this up and get comments and suggestions from all of you. I am going to do the first third of my Walker set in XF circulated grades - and I need to know how to grade them. What do you look for in a circulated Walker? What criteria do you use? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Also, please post as many Walkers as you can - I'm learning by looking.

I'll start things off with my first circulated Walker, which came today from JJ Teaparty. I'll get some comments before I reveal the grade PCGS gave it.

 

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I'm thinking VF-20.
OBVERSE: General wear, but the breasts are outlined and the left leg sandal appears full.
REVERSE: Detail lost on the breast, legs, and wing edges.

BTW standards for early Walkers (before 1921) are different that for later WL's.
More wear is expected on the earlier coins so my opinion of VF-20 might only be F-15 on a newer coin.

 

Going by the old ANA grading standards I use, I'd give it a VF-20 also.

 

I'm thinking VF.

 

VF-20....and the little lady's got a lot o' character. I love circulated walkers......

 

ahh my favorite series.

I am going to say this coin just barely etched out the EF 40. The breast feathers are definitely worn and could pull it down to VF if you ever resubmit it, as could the the wear on the left near.

In this series, there are a bunch of things to look at. The main thing to check for is Liberty's breast line. Make sure it is fully outlined because it is the number one killer of coins getting the VF and EF grades. Also, the things you need to consider on the obverse are Liberty's body (especially the knee and gown lines) and the sandals. Avoiding wear there could always boost up the grade. Also, wear tends to generate over the head and elbow areas.

The reverse, on the other hand, seems to always have less wear than the obverse. Still, the key spots to look at are the eagle's breast and center of both legs. Those spots gather the most wear by far. Make sure you always have strong wing detail and that you can always see the eagle's pupil (this one is always overlooked).

Other than that, the sun on the obverse and the rock under the eagle on the reverse are not generally that important (even in high MS grades they tend to have marks).

I would love to post photos but I am at school and cannot help you there. Maybe when I get back and if you're still looking and practicing grading I will be able to. Well, good luck and happy hunting. hya:

 

Nice photo..I've got some Walkers and I find them challenging to grade.
The design is complex.
I much prefer the obverse to the reverse. Liberty is graceful and lovely, but the eagle is looks lead heavy, incapable of flying...

 

Beautiful coin. I love the look of circulated silver and this coin just has it!

 

I'll say it's a VF-30. It has all of the detail of a high-end VF, but not quite an XF coin.


oh and BTW, nice picture

 

I have several WLH`s some in better grades, some worse, and some the same as pictured . IMHO that coin has the best feel and look. They darken a bit but I that that adds to the character of the coin . Just keep posting em and i`m always glad to hear other people like them too !

 

I've got a question about the skirt lines. For a walker so close to xf, why are the skirt lines not visible? Many areas of the coin seem to have struck up fairly well. Thanx.

 

Nice 1918! I only have four Walking Liberty Halfs, and these are the best pictures I've got. Sorry they aren't that good!




Edit: I forgot to post the two pictures below, which might be worse then the two above. These are of the first year set I completed from the silver era...I have so few silver, it's the only year where I have every coin from one mint!




I know that is not much help....

 

Hey Billy, that is one nice ' 42 ' WL you have there. Whoops! I forgot to look for a MM if any. Congrats. Higher grade Walking Libertys are hard to come by for guys like us. My daughter in WF has 35 of them but alas, they are all VG-8 to low F.

 

Thanks I got it at CoinFest this past October. It's my highest graded example. None of mine are branch mint issues though...

 

Because prior to 1920 the skirt lines can be very weak and therefore cannot be used to grade the coin. Use the other areas of coins prior to 1921 for grading. 1921-1947 coins will use the skirt lines as a grading diagnostic.

 

Mikenoodle explained the skirt lines well. On these early date coins, they are often quite weak - although in hand, the skirt lines on this coin are more present than they appear in the picture (an artifact of both the lighting and the compression of the image).

PCGS graded this coin XF-40, which I think is a bit optimistic. I would grade it VF-35, but a nice one. Luckily, this is a lower value date - so making mistakes is not quite as painful as on a scarcer date. Good job to all with the grade guesses. I will post another one shortly to spur further discussion.

 

ahh good. I thought it would barely eek out the EF grade.

 

One of my favorite coins also. I'm presently trying to complete set #4 of those and all in circulated grades. I put the best in set #1, then slowly lesser grades towards sets #2, #3 then #4. Only 4 left to complete #4.
That coin is about VF-20 to -30 is my guess. Not sure since I really stink at grading.

 

I love that eagle. Maybe I just like eagles, last night I was looking at quarters and really liked the eagles compared to the states.

Get rid of the quarter programs and bring back the eagle.