Is it possible that the ground has given up an extreme rarity?

Hey folks. I've been a lurker here for years, actually. I'm not much of the posting type, but this has me motivated. I recently went through some metal detector finds. Mostly Indians, Wheaties, some large cents, buttons, a bit of junk silver...but then there is this. Can anyone please comment?

 

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Very odd surface and color. I am a gold collector, so cannot comment much, but after researching, I do not see arrows or rays. But again, the color and surface are very odd.... Interesting....

 

I am a copper and world coin guy myself.

 

Can you post better, well-centered photos please?

 

I hope these scans work, it's about the best I can do. It lets you click to enlarge them.

 

It looks like an 1853-O! Even though it had chickenpox as a kid, it would be a very valuable piece if determined to be genuine. That could very well be a great score.

 

Weight?

 

Very valuable even in THIS condition? Please define? lol. I do not know what the weight is, I will have to take it to a coin shop next time I'm in town.

 

A VF-35 example sold for 368,000 in a Stack Bowers auction in 2006. This is nowhere near that, but is worth close to that sum if proven genuine.

 

What!!!!!

 

I think I read only 4 known to exist... if it is real. If it is real, I think you should give each poster in this thread $100 just for the heck of it

 

I forget the number of known genuine examples, but it's very low, so yes... if (IF) proven to be genuine, even in this condition it would be fairly valuable. With that said, there are aspects of the coin that make it appear promising, but others are of concern, and because of the overall condition, there isn't much to work with going only on photos. The fact that there are no arrows or rays visible means nothing as genuine coins have been known to be altered.

I'll take a better look tomorrow with fresh eyes and more patience.

 

Whatever you do, don't sell it to the coin dealer for less than $100k! (until you know more).

 

Cool.

 

The mintage was thought to be only five pieces. This of course is just speculation, but yes, it would be extremely valuable even in this condition. Please let us know how it turns out one way or another.

 

Oh, wow. Nice find!

It's hard to tell in that condition but it does look like that's an O and not another bump and I don't see arrows/rays, either. I'd probably send it in to NGC if it were me. Worst case, you lose out on a few bucks. Then again, I think they charge based on value...

 

With all due respect, Kirk, I couldn't agree with you more..

(edited)

 

Not too sure what brought the troll out, but I'm a little blown away that the consensus seems to be that my coin, if proven correct, is worth 6 figures. I was thinking maybe 10,000 if I was lucky. It looks like NGC would grade coins worth up to 100,000 for $125 or up to 250,000 in value for $250. But, I might have to submit it in person. Do not trust the USPS that much!

 

You can get a local coin shop to give you an opinion of the coin before going that far. If you check the dealer directory on this site, you may find one close to home with a review from a member here. Not all coin dealers are the same unfortunately.

 

A lot of the stores where I live are run by your typical "used car salesmen" types. There is one good one I go to in a city I travel to a lot, though, and I happen to be going there in a couple of days. Can't wait to have it weighed.