Received this 1866 two cent today and would like opinions on grade. The pictures were taken by my limited skills and I could not quite get the luster to show as it appears in hand. Grade? Opinions? Thank you
The "WE" is strong and the horizontal shield lines look full. But from your picture the best I can do is say it's AU or better. Probably MS but just can't tell.
It would help if you cropped your pictures before posting, but I can't make out any wear on it. I would guess 63
The proper grading of this coin is "High Grade"! Looks like you bought it from gerrywh100. Almost every coin he has for sale is listed as high grade. I'm not kidding take a look at his feedback for his past sales, I guess he just learned the term BU. To tell the truth I have been a little too nervous to buy from him. He always has a large selection of 2 cent pieces all high grade. Same with bust halves. If you feel he is a legit seller. Could someone else take a look at what he offers and comment on if my spidy sense is a little too overactive. Oh, and HI! (first post)
Yes I purchased this coin from him. Actually it is the sixth coin I have purchased from him and so far I have been very pleased with each coin. Three of them are at NGC being graded and this one will be going to PCGS later this week. The other two will perhaps later will be sent out for grading. I posted this coin to received opinions from the members of this forum and perhaps to confirm my opinion of the grade based upon my limited grading skill with this series. It helps me learn a new series and test my grading skills. Many individuals including myself when selling raw coins on ebay do not list their opinion on the grade, simply because the general public when purchasing coins have no idea of the Sheldon scale and grading can be subjective to the opinion of the individual doing the grading at that moment. Even when I sell PCGS and NGC graded coins on ebay I place this notice in my listing "The grade listed is the subjective view of the third party grading service" Recently I posted a 1932-S WQ in a PCGS MS 64 holder, http://www.cointalk.com/t111285/ there were not many within this forum that agreed with the grading. That experience would indicate to me that even grading by PCGS is subjective to the individual doing the grading, professional or not. Guess what I trying to say is I do not really care nor does it bother me that someone on selling on ebay states "high grade" or use the Sheldon scale or use a different method to described their coin because really in the long run I will grade the coin based on my limited knowledge and not their opinion of the grade. Thank you BTW: welcome to the forum!
Looks like a 5 Obverse and a G reverse die marriage per Flynn's book "The Two Cent Piece and Varieties" I copied your pics into another application and enlarged then to help me see them better. The surfaces will be the key to a good grade. I cannot tell if they are original or an old cleaning that is retoning from the pics. Quite typical of any picture. I am seeing very little if any real wear, so depending on the graders opinion of the surfaces I'd go as high as a MS 64 BN. That said, is there any evidence of die cracks from the lower left side of the right arrow shart to the border at the right of the date? or, from the border through the final T of TRUST? On the reverse a rim break occurs over the center of A in STATES. Short breaks from the border to D and to the left top of the final S of STATES. And finally any recutting seen on the letters S OF AMERICA ? The 2 and the reverse ribbon ends may also show some recutting.
