Hello ladies and gentlemen. A friend of the family asked me "what's it worth?" regarding a couple coins they have. One of them is a 1943 cent so no big deal as I know that's like $5 at best. However, I don't know much about the other coin as I don't collect these. It is an 1830 Capped Bust Dime. Unfortunately the photos provided aren't great (see attached), but I think it's good enough to get an idea on its condition. From what I see it doesn't seem to be in high grade but doesn't seem to be very worn either as I can read "Liberty" on the cap. I know there are several factors to consider, but lets just assume the coin isn't cleaned and there is no major damage. I will tell them "value is about $x if it's not cleaned or damaged", and then they can take it from there. It doesn't seem to be a rare coin by any means. There are currently 110 active listings on eBay. The range on active and sold is pretty wide so that's why I'm asking for some help. I also noticed that there is a small and medium variety. The designations are JR-2, for example, or something like that. Not sure how much of a difference, if any, there is. Any help us appreciated.
"JR" represents the John Reich Collectors Society, itself named for the US Mint Engraver who designed the Capped Bust coinage. They're the die pair variety designations for Capped Bust Dimes. 1830 is characterized - among other things - by two individual configurations of the 0 in "10 C" on the reverse. The sole "Small 0" variety, which I believe this coin to be, is JR-2 and the most common variety for the year. The 0 is noticeably smaller than the 1 and rather square; the "Medium 0" varieties are more oval-shaped and taller than the 1. I can't do much better than VG-8 for a grade.
The obverse looks F+ and the reverse looks VG to me, so maybe a VG10 or F12 overall. Value-wise, maybe in the neighborhood of $50? It looks like it's a nice coin provided the area in the left field between Liberty's chin and the the bottom two stars isn't damage.
I agree that it is not problem free, only a small percent are, but I think it is decent looking. The OP did specify uncleaned & no major damage...
The same tiny marks which so adversely affect the grade of Mint State Dimes are really too insignificant to get in the way of grade with circulated examples; the harsh contrast of digital photography tends to overexaggerate them. Of course, with one set of images like this nobody's going to be "accurate," but I'm kinda optimistic about how original it would be judged.
I was asking for an opinion of value in uncleaned and undamaged condition. I don't know that to be the case with subject coin, but I was looking to report to the coins owner the value subject to it being uncleaned and undamaged. If they go to sell it and someone offers less because it was in fact cleaned or has damage then not my fault.
