Post your "could-have-beens" here!

There have been numerous posts on Coin Talk showing some of the most exquisite coins imaginable, and a very interesting thread about coins that have led a very tough life and wound up "on the wrong side of the tracks". This thread is about coins that "could have been"-- that is, they could have had significant value if someone hadn't messed them all up. I'll start by posting one of my favorites (?)-- a 1918-S Buffalo nickel that could have been worth a hundred dollars or more if someone hadn't decided to give it an "acid bath" somewhere along the way. :headbang:

 

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my friendly coin dealer showed me his 1917-s standing liberty quarter. Holding it under the light for me in its order-your-own slab, obverse showing, he says guess the grade. I say MS65... He says how bout now? flips it to reveal a perfect reverse, but for the ugly 'X' carved between the eagle's wings and under "e pluribus unum" :O . He just chuckled as my face fell; he must get a real kick out of doing that to collectors that appreciate the beauty of coins, as I'm sure he doesn't show it to everyone. Sorry no picks, but it is a real "could have been"!!! (Oh, btw he does not sell graded coins, and the cheap slabs are never labeled or attempted to be passed off as graded by a TPG.)

 

Ouch! I wonder how much that X brought down the value of the coin?

 

I no longer have the coins, but when I was a kid, I had a collection of Canadian large cents, nickels, dimes, fifty cent pieces and silver dollars. I did have a few key dates that had been given to me by relatives. Being six or seven years old at the time, I thought it was important to make these coins as nice as possible, so, with Silvo and Brasso and a brand new brillo pad, I buffed up these babies until they were gleaming! Needless to say when I sold them years later, they had nothing more than face value.

From what I can recall, the value of the coins today would be around $15,000 or so.

 

I picked up this in an ebay auction. The seller didn't mention the overdate, the photos were poor but I sensed something nice and sprang for it. $301 out the door.

When it arrived I looked at it in hand and my heart skipped a beat. Although I could see it had been dipped it wasn't overdone. This CBH was an O-103, R3 and an easy AU55/58 worth $2,000 if it graded cleanly.

But, under a loupe, I could see obverse hairlines from improper cleaning...especially at the chin. Drat. I sold it with full disclosure for $750. The new owner has it for sale at $1150.
Lance.

 

That is a very nice over-date.

Can I ask what you use to get the excellent scan/pic ?

 

I posted this 1961 cent in another thread, but it fits this thread as well. The obverse will put a smile on your face, the reverse will make you cringe. What a shame.

 

A plain old D-SLR with a long macro lens (180mm) and a copy stand to keep things steady. And some good post-processing Mac software. Thanks!
Lance.

 

The Case of the Bad 1895 Morgan

The 1895 Morgan got me into Morgan dollars back in 1988 when my dad was stationed on Oahu at K-Bay. Back then, my family would go to King's Coins in Kailua about once every month or two. Mr. King was great about using the Red Book to help my dad and me collect a decent raw set of IHCs. We got all but the 1856 FE and 1877 IHC. (I picked up an 1877 in 2006 in Santa Barbara).

One of Mr. King's regulars had a pocket piece Morgan dollar, an 1895 Morgan dollar. From my copy of the Red Book (1988 edition), I knew the 1895 was THE KEY Morgan. 12,000 minted, zero in circulation, all melted, about 800 proofs survived. Etc. Etc. The first time he showed it to me, he pulled it out of his wallet, put it on the glass case, and told me to pick it up.

Picking the 1895 up by the edges, sure enough, it was an 1895!! He told me to flip it over. Sure enough, there was no O, no S!!!

Why was this coin in his pocket??

Handing his 1895 back to him, he said he carried it as a pocket peice because he thought it had been an 1895-O with is mint mark removed. Back then, little kid me had no idea how he could have known that. I looked where the O should be and it did not look like someone had scratched or scraped or melted the O off.

Looking back on the 23 year old memory, the 1895 was not a proof strike. And with the DMPLs I have, it was not even a former DMPL coin. I must agree it was an altered mint mark coin.






(This is my 1895-O PCGS AU-55. just to have an image in this post.)

 

This one fits.

 

It was so displeasing to the eye, and actually upsetting to see, even he agreed it was basically worth melt. He had it in his 'not for sale' conversation piece box.

 

This is about a modest little coin I needed for a raw XF/AU set of early Lincolns (1915). I bought it on ebay, and when it arrived I gave it a quick look and liked everything I saw...with my old eyes and no loupe. Mistake #1. I promptly left positive feedback (mistake #2) and set it aside to place in the Library of Coins album later. Mistake #3.



A week or two passed before I retrieved it to place in my album but something caught my eye and a loupe told me what I feared: I'm an idiot! I let myself be had. Corrosion had eaten into the obverse near the date and on the vest and this cent I paid $40 for is worthless to me. The ebay photo was just dark enough and poor enough to conceal the damage.

At least it wasn't a very expensive lesson. But I sure feel like a fool for making such a rookie mistake and I'm embarrassed to admit it.
Lance.

 

I bought this bust half from my local dealer... unfortunately I was in a hurry and didn't look at under a loupe (a mistake I now avoid). I posted a pic here on CT, and Doug pointed out that both the clasp and the hat had been worked, and suggested I return it (which I did). It's nice to have a place where we can learn from our mistakes...

 

Here's another could-have-been-- an 1864-L Indian Head Cent that was certainly abused at some time during its nearly 150 years of existence

 

The Philippines peso that was pretty nice before its encounter with The Mad Machete:



The half dime that probably wasn't half bad before its encounter with -- whatever the heck it encountered:

 

The half dime was once in an old time change making tube. I'll try to find the image.

 

It may have just been called a coin bank.

 

at first i thought i really dont have a could-have-been but i do. i suppose if it wasnt my could-have-been i probably couldnt afford it lolz.

a 1801 S-222 R5. scratched - verdigris - porous. decent detail for the 30 bucks i payed.

 

I have 2 "could have beens" !

Someone decided to carve their name in this poor lady.



And someone was angry here...

 

Ouch! And double ouch! Triple ouch even! Someone must have had really had a grudge against your half dollar! Kind of like this 1775 French ecu, where someone scratched up the portrait of Louis XVI. While those could be adjustment marks, someone obliterated much of the fleurs-de-lis (symbol of the House of Bourbon) on the reverse long ago, which seems to me that someone had a big grudge against the House of Bourbon.