This is a properly attributed S-150 which is also an R5 rarity with good detail and some damage. It is nicer for those who want a step above the lower grades without spending too much. http://cgi.ebay.com/1798-7-Draped-Bust-Large-Cent-S-150-RARE-/280697108268?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item415ad9f7 Weakness on the reverse is from die buckling, not wear.
And badly at that. Still decent example, but I think the price has exceeded the condition of the coin.
OK! Now I get to ask what you see that indicates retooling. I obviously do not know what to look for. Retooling and counterfeit detection is a weakness of mine if they get the attribution points right.
Look at the edges around the hair and bow. Maybe I am wrong, but I thought the same thing tooled and cleaned before reading conders post. It almost looks like a bad trace job, especially at top of bow. And I am also not talking about the two big gouges thru the hair - that is just plain damage. It is almost like they tried to trace it, but the tracing was inset just a fraction from the actual design. Too me it does not look as smooth and natural for the coin or design.
thats ebay for ya. it does look tooled on top of where the damage is and around the curls. not the bow so much. the reverse is pretty good but its still not that attractive to me for that money.
Look at the very top of the bow right where it meets the hair - either well placed hits or very bad tooling. Of course that is what I see - doesn't make me right.
The thing that jumped out at me was the two large hits in the upper part of the hair on the obverse. Looks more like PMD to me, but I have 1/10th the experience and even less of a brain for details as Conder.
maybe a mishap during the tooling? up to 420. i think i would take the previously metioned S-88 and S-132 over this one.
It's really a shame they picked that piece to retool. The S-150 is a rare variety, and it almost always comes on dark crummy planchets. if this wasn't retooled it would be a really top notch piece. My piece is also on an unusually nice planchet, problem free, and grades VG-8. I paid $400 for it years ago.
The image on the right is a PCGS VF-20. It is a little higher grade than the ebay coin in question (Note the stronger rounded central details behind the ear.) Start with the hair curls below the R the seperation of the hair strands are more deeply cut on the ebay coin. Likewise the area where the ribbon bow joins the hair appears to have been sharpened. The hair wave below the curl under the bow has had it's separations greatly strengthened. Next look at the wave by the point of the 1. The lines in that wave have been strengthened. Notice on the PCGS coin those separation lines blend together and fade out just above the curl. On the ebay coin they remain strong and separate up and over the curl and down the other side. I also think there has been some touch-up done to the drapery at the tip of the bust. You'll notice all these separations, especially the ones below the back curl and by the point of the 1 seem unusually "harsh".
I see what you mean. I had just thought the eBay coin might have been stacked which caused disparate wear in the center. Tooling just never entered my mind.
