I was all jazzed for a coin I had won on eBay. It had the kind of circulated look I was going for and I got it for a decent price (from what I could ascertain from the photo). While the coin does have some decent eye appeal, it does so under more diffused light. The reverse I love, and I have it reverse-up in the album. But I think the coins was cleaned at one point. Even from the pic above you can spot some hairlines in the obverse, but under more direct light you can see the telltale hairlines. The multidirectional ones. It's not too harsh, but I think it would be just enough to get the coin genuine'd. But is there an acceptable amount of hairlines at this grade? I suppose you'd need to see more photos. Nevertheless, I still kind of like the coin. Seeing that it may be a problem coin was disappointing though. Yes, I've been told to beware of circulated coins on eBay. This one looked like it was worth the risk - luckily it was not a big financial loss.
The reverse of that specimen indeed looks very nice :thumb: And LIBERTY is certainly well defined... I hope that you were able to obtain it at a nice price. Perhaps you could post some additional, higher res photos of the specimen. I'd like to see if indeed there are indicators of cleaning.
I only paid $39 for it. Free shipping too. I think Redbook lists this as being valued at $55. Here are a few more photos. I don't have access to my hi-res/quality coin photo setup right now. These were taken under the track lighting on my ceiling and any ambient light that was there. This was shot in direct sunlight. Coins don't really look all that good in direct sunlight though.
there are alot of circ coins that do not look good under sunlight the reverse is great looking.the obverse is some shades too light.I agree with you,I think it would get the genie in a bottle holder.still a very nice coin.price seemed good too.
Nice purchase price. IMO, the first photo of the obverse specimen exhibits some signs of evidence of cleaning. That said, it is beautiful
It looks like a good piece for a type set. I have an 1853-O half that could be it's cousin. Look at it this way. How much cheaper than $39 do you really expect to pick one of these up for that has details defined this well? You can't be too unhappy with it. I'd take it.
You'll find with seated quarters that it is VERY difficult to find a coin that is 100% original......It takes alot of searching but thats a nice '53 i think it was worth every penny of $39
I have almost the exact same looking coin I got on ebay late last year. Only difference is there is less black on the back and more on the front. I paid about $35. I love the black on the back of yours though.
I can see the hairlines in the obverse fields BUT I can't see if they go across the devices. If they DON'T go across the devices, then I'm not so sure about it being cleaned.
You're right of course. I'm naturally a nitpicky person. it looked like it could be 100% perfect to me on eBay - of course it wasn't but what is?
Many circulated coins will exhibit hairlines simply from the act of being handled and slid across surfaces. Has this coin been cleaned? It's possible, but this is a coin I would like to examine in-hand before getting too definitive. Overall it looks darn nice in some of these photos.
Yes, perhaps I need more education when it comes to circulated coins. Otherwise I may drive myself crazy getting too hung up on these little things.
Very old once circulated coins like these sometimes accumulated oils, dirt, grime that conglomerated in the worst numismatically places possible and were "wiped" to clean off the gunk. You can't tell when that happened, it was intentional but people thought they were helping the coin instead of minutely marring the surfaces. I think that looks excellent in the Dansco and would be satisfied it was not "harshly" cleaned. Happy Collecting
