Was looking over my old coins i inherited tonight and had a few questions about my 1865 nickel 3 cent piece. My first observation is it seems to be a mint state coin, but the top of the headband seems to be worn off. The denticles above that area seem weak also. Could this be struck through grease or something like that? On the reverse, I see a nice die clash with the shadow of the obverse. You can clearly see the outline of Liberty's face and hair. Is this kind of clash common? I know clashes are common during this era of coin making, but haven't seen this kind in my limited experience. Thoughts?
These are notorious for bad strikes the mint wasn't used to striking coins in as hard of metal as nickel. I think it's strike issue or die wear
Yes, die clashes are common. I have a 3CN nickel with a very similar clash. Also the coin looks MS to me. I would give it a 62-63.
Tough to see any luster from the pics. Looks like it's been dipped out. I don't know the series well, but I'll take Bill and Mike's word for the weak strikes. I'd say low MS coin. However, since this coin was inherited, I imagine it has special meaning. I'd get that in an airtite.
Looks like strike weakness. Notice the point of the coronet is opposite the leaf cluster just to the left of the ribbon binding the wreath. That is a relatively high relief area and the combination of the high relief plus the hard metal resulted in a weakly struck coronet.
Frankly anything is possible when comes to the 3c silver and nickel coinage. clashes , weakness in their striking damage dies variety listed in cherry pickers guide. 3c was one US Mint had a very high rate of varieties and not a long date run.
Was looking on the GC website of sold coins just like mine. There was one with the exact same issue on the headband, and it got an MS64, but had a little more luster. So I guess PCGS will be ok with the weak strike area. The ones graded MS63 had a weaker strike than mine in the hair. May send this one in and see what happens.
I have an 1865 with the same clash full face can be seen on rev. Nice coin and a good grade from pcgs. Congrats .
