More coins from my first ANACS submission -- I posted some gold and a couple of Peace dollars in earlier threads. I asked for comments on the first of these in a thread earlier in the year. Two of three dealers who saw it in-hand thought it would grade cleanly; folks here were a bit more pessimistic. I haven't posted the second one here before -- it came in one of the numerous Barber-half lots I bought from the late and mostly unlamented THR Associates. Guesses, please? I'll let this run for a day or so, depending on how many takers appear.
Budget, availability, and service. They had a rep at the local coin show, and he spent over an hour with me going over these eight coins plus several others that he advised against submitting. I can always cross later if it's appropriate, and I'm out less than $15/coin total. That, and they give numeric details grades -- I was pretty sure some of these coins wouldn't grade cleanly, but I still wanted more detailed feedback on condition. (Still, there were surprises -- coins that I thought wouldn't grade but did, and vice-versa.)
Hate to say it...as I love Barber coinage especially halves, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if neither grade cleanly. And don't get me wrong. I hope they do, and I'm usually not the pessimist. The first I would say is XF details. The color is just way off. It could be the pictures, but it just doesn't look right. The second is better looking as far as originality and may have the better chance to grade cleanly. However, again it might just be the pictures, but it looks cleaned and combined with the scratch across the neck...it is a strong VF as far as details go. I hope they both make it! Thats just my opinion.
Sadly, in my opinion both would grade VF Details. Also I will second log potatoes inverted mm on the 1909-S ( FS-501).
Well, I'll be. I never even noticed (and, apparently, neither did ANACS.) I darkened the first image to more accurately reflect its in-hand appearance, but it looks like I overshot. If you compare the backgrounds on the first and second coins, you can see some indication of the difference. I probably should have adjusted exposure the same way on both.
It is possible that they did, but I am guessing that you didn't pay for attribution. Unfortunate to discover this after the fact, but still a neat find.
My experience with barbers is that I'm not great at grading them, but I'll take a shot anyway. The first one I would guess XF40, and the second VF35. They look nice, congratulations.
Thanks, everybody -- grades for these tomorrow evening, along with a new thread for the last coin from the batch, a Type 1 1917 SLQ.
Well, the title of "Honorary ANACS Grader" goes to bkozak33, who nailed both coins with the first reply on the thread: 1901-S -- XF 40 details (cleaned) 1909-S -- XF 40 I'm toying with the idea of either cracking or trying to cross the 1901-S to NGC or PCGS at some future date, not because I distrust the judgement of folks here, but because several dealers who've examined the coin in-hand expressed their opinion that it ought to grade cleanly. For this particular coin, it seems like it would be worth gambling another $30 or 40. I still think it's a technical VF35 myself, but judging from photos I've seen of other examples, all the major TPGs routinely bump better dates to XF40 when they have this level of detail. I was pleased but not surprised at the grade on the 1909-S -- it confirmed what I expected. I'm a bit tempted to crack it and put it back in my Dansco, but I imagine I'll instead wait for an example that's more in line with the rest of the book (F02-VF30, with a fair number of problem coins). I kind of wish I'd gotten it attributed, but it doesn't look like that variety carries any market premium. Off to post the last coin from this batch. Thanks again, everybody!
Thanks for the update, -jeffB. The reason I don't agree with the XF grades, is the top feather should be completely separated from the second feather. Especially for half dollars of these dates. The 09 coins in the half dollar series have especially strong LIBERTY and band which can fool some into higher grades. You're right about the inverted mint mark not carrying a premium. Especially not in most circulated grades. I haven't studied the MS coins for this variety so I don't know if they carry any premium. I think I found a new research topic. If you can get the 01-S to grade cleanly, 30$ is nothing for an investment into it. But from what I can see I'm doubtful. If you do send it, I hope it does.
