Circulated or uncirculated, that is the question (Quarter Virginia)

Hello guys. I would like to know what do you think about this Quarter dollar. I've seen one like this, selling as uncirculated in a well-known site. But I recognize my limited skill for grading coins, so what do you think?

It has luster, when you turn the coin light reflection changes.



High resolution image for each face:

http://drk.com.ar/images/quarter_virginia_1.jpg
http://drk.com.ar/images/quarter_virginia_2.jpg

 

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IMO, with the deep hits on that coin, I don't think it would rise to MS60, making it a spender.
How much are they asking for it?

 

I'd put that coin at AU with a lot of distracting contact marks in the fields and prime focal areas. I think you could do better pulling a nice example out of pocket change or bank rolls......

 

Take into account that I've posted the picture of my coin.

The one I took as reference was selling for 40 cents. My main concern is learning to grade a coin between XF and UNC. I guess (but I'm not sure) that a coin can be graded UNC even if that coin actually went out of the bank to a couple of people. But it remained unharmed. If I have to grade my coin, I can say I know for a fact it has circulated. But I guess XF is yet to low for its condition.

 

I live in Argentina, I just updated my profile.
If I go to the bank and I get bank roll, I can't be certain that I'm the actual first owner of those coins. At least here in Argentina. Is it possible grading one of those as UNC anyway?

 

Oh dear, I see what you mean. You are at a definite disadvantage opposed to collectors in the US. Is it even possible to obtain US coins at your local bank? I know at one time US currency was considered legal tender in your country but I'm not sure if this is still the case today.

 

No. That's not the problem, I could ask a friend living in the US to get some for me. I want to know whether a coin in a very very good shape, even if it has circulated, can be graded as uncirculated.

Not exactly, Dollar was never a legal currency in Argentina. There was a time, from April 1, 1991 to January 2, 2002, during which 1 peso was equal to 1 dollar. As for paying in a local store with dollars or euros within Argentina. It's not forbidden and some places accept them before and after that period. If I go to a bank or exchange agent, I could trade pesos for dollars. But I won't be able to get small designations as coins. Nor will them be brand new. But, as told you before, my concern is the actual grading of coins when they have circulated but are in good shape.

 

OK, now I read ya. Grading is very subjective and Lord knows you'll get many opinions regarding a coin picture you post here. Now, if I understand you correctly, you want to know if a coin that has passed through the hands of a few people, but still looks uncirculated, is it still uncirculated? Correct? In the technical sense, no it isn't because that coin has been in circulation. But.....big but.....it can still look and grade uncirculated if all of the indicators for an uncirculated coin of that series are met.

 

Correct! And that's what I've thought. The term uncirculated seems to be pretty obvious. But I've learned that when to coin grading comes, nothing is that obvious. So, for a start, if I know a coin has circulated I have to grade it below UNC, which would be AU (if I'm not wrong). Then I go to a catalog stating that

Code:

KM#    XFine    UNC     Proof
309    -        1.00    3.35

(Sorry, I edited this--->)
My coin value should be under 1.00. Am I right?

 

Going by your chart, yes.....but remember this, value is what someone's willing to pay for it. Still, it gives you a ball park idea of what your example might be worth.

 

Of course, I want to grade and put a value for the coin in my list. To get an approximation to the value of my collection. I'm not going to sell it. Another question (I hope I'm not abusing your good disposition) regarding the values in the catalog. In this case, for example, there is no value for XFine. Does it mean that an XFine item is going to have no value at all? I know that depends on whether I can find someone willing to buy the item. But as a general rule?

 

A lot of times with 'moderns' people don't bother collecting them in less than mint grade so the price guides don't list them, however, check this out.........http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/prices/wshqtr/pricesgd.shtml

Remember, price guide means 'price guide', not gospel........