Hard to tell from static photos, but I don't see obvious scuffing or dark stuff in crevices. I'd guess maybe dipped, but not scrubbed. What's the luster like? The toning isn't very pretty, but I imagine the biggest problem is the chewed rim on the obverse. I'll have to leave the "what's it worth" part to others.
Funny, my "fake" circuits didn't kick in until I saw your "cause for concern" phrasing. On closer examination, though, I'm not seeing obvious pitting or other signs of casting elsewhere on the coin -- not that I'm an expert yet, mind you, as I've only ever bought the one fake. And the rim damage does look like it could be legitimate damage to a genuine coin, at least to me. Please weigh the coin without delay.
Maybe I'm overly concerned, but that rim damage does look bubbley to me. I'm no expert and would be interested in what others with more knowledge think and feel
Njpmoose , I would call this peace a XF-45 and give it a price tag of 280$. I believe the piece to be 100% genuine...
If the coin is genuine, and I do have my doubts that it is genuine, it could only get into a Genuine or a Details slab due to the rim damage in several places. As for the cleaning issue, I can see some marks but only a few that might indicate it has been harshly cleaned. It has at the very least been dipped and probably over-dipped in an effort to remove unsightly toning. And it looks like it might have been lightly polished afterwards.
It seems like the 1928 has a particularly low value curve across grades -- NumisMedia FMV goes from 276 (G4) to 299 (F12) to 334 (XF40) to 516 (MS60). Does this also imply that cleaning or other damage imposes less of a value hit than it does for other dates? (I've been told this is true, but I've only discussed value with one or two dealers, and this was for a harshly cleaned VF-ish example.)
no, Jeff, it suggests quite the opposite. A damaged coin generally offers value to the buyer in the fact of being able to afford a nicer coin for less money. In other words, the premium for grade is diminished by the damage and the coin generally sells the same as a coin a grade or so less. When the value curve of a coin is flat throughout the grades, the grade holds little to no premium and when subtracting value for the damage, it becomes less than a very low grade problem-free coin. My suggestion with a 1928 is to find a problem free coin regardless of grade. It will likely hold it's value better than a damaged one and will be easier to sell when the time comes.
Hah! I never thought of it that way. On the other hand, that sort of begs the question -- after all, while a coin in higher grade is "nicer", so is an undamaged coin. If the value curve is flat throughout the grades, why wouldn't it also be flat throughout the range of damage levels? I still don't know why the increment between grades is so small for this date. Sure, it's in demand -- but not as much as, say, the 1916-D Mercury, which has a much steeper curve.
The '28 peace is like the '21 Peace in that regard. The reason that values over most of the grades is basically flat is because the coin is readily available in pretty much all grades. When you see large price jumps from one grade to another for a coin, what that means is that the coin is hard to find in that higher grade. You see, some coins are common as dirt in lower grades so the values over the grade spectrum vary little. But in those higher grades the coin becomes a condition rarity. And when that happens, that's when the price jumps.
