No matter my current health condition, I can't stop looking at and drooling over coins I want. You can take the collection away from me, but you can't take the need to collect out of the collector. This is one I wanted to add to my collection for some time. I probably over estimated the grade, but at least it fills that empty slot. Your thoughts appreciated: Before coin was soaked in acetone for 48 hours
Nice to see you post, Albert. This is one of the early commemoratives that’s still on my want list. I haven’t had one “speak to me” yet. I like your example. It cleaned up nice.
You're never too old to do what floats your boat. I'm 3 and still plan to buy when I'm 4. If you believe that, I've got some Beach Front property in Boise I will sell really cheap.
Great to hear from you and glad to see you still are able to fill a "need". I'm right there with you. There are a few that I still have a "need" for. Thanks for sharing.
Just visited there too. Like Gettysburg, extremely somber place and hard to grasp the extent of death of thousands of young men on those battlefields.
Welcome back! It's good to hear from you again. I think that I would have left that Antietam coin alone. Collectors are competely obcessed with original surfaces these days, even if it's unattractive. I bought this one many years ago, just at the time when prices were headed down from their all time highs. It's in an old NGC MS-65 "fatty holder." The dealer who sold it to me had it on consignment from a customer who was trying to sell a complete set of commemoratives. I told him I was only interested in this one and made an offer, too high as it turned out. The dealer claimed his customer had paid $1,600 for it. I could believe it. The old commemorative half dollars were touted as "great investments" in the late 1980s. I think this would grade a point higher if I cracked it out, but it would not be worth it. I stood back from Burnside's Bridge, with the coin in my hand, when I toured the Antietam Battlefield and took this picture. Yes, the artist reversed the position of the tree for the design on the coin. The tree is touted as "the last survivor" of the battle. It was there at the time.
That's a coin I didn't know existed so thank you for sharing @Mountain Man. I was there on a battlefield tour some years ago with a late great friend of mine. There are photographs of the aftermath and we saw them before we visited and it made our visit all the more poignant. I did a quick fact find on your coin and learnt a bit. Really good that both sides were represented, soldiers all spill the same blood.
There is good news and bad news about this coin if you are looking to buy one. the good news was that they were issued at a time in the mid 1930s when collecting commemorative half dollars was very popular. The vast majority of the mintage, which was 18,028, was saved by collectors who preserved them carfully. It tends to come in high grade. The bad news is the mintage was on the lower side, which makes it worth several hundred dollars. If you buy one, buy a nice one. You don't get much of break for the lower grades.
@johnmilton, I understand if your modesty prohibits it, but it won't stop me from linking your excellent post from six years ago on this coin and this subject. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-antietam-and-the-commemorative-half-dollar.360847/
Antietam is one of my favorite Civil War battlefields. So much history from this battle, over 300 cannons firing and the lost of life is hard to imagine. I’ve heard one of the cannons used being fired. It was loud and I can only imagine 300 of them as being deafening. @Mountain Man It’s so good to hear from you again. Your coin is a very nice one, one that I don’t have but would like. I pray you’re doing well and remain that way. Take care of yourself and try to get on CT a little more if you can. We miss you. May the Lord bless and keep you.
