I had a dealer at the show try to sell me a 38 DDD/s for 640$ I could have dealt with him on the MS Half Cent, what A. Right across from David Lawrence.
I started following this one because it was listed as an 1881-O and I knew the features looked like a VAM 1D - Flaky Eye. But then when you look at the reverse the image is of an 1881-S. So we are left with three options for those of you who might be thinking about VAMing. 1. The eBay seller posted the wrong reverse picture (most likely) 2. The New Orleans Mint shipped this obverse die to San Francisco for some reason and they used it. (Very unlikely but stranger things have happened) 3. The Flaky Eye feature is from a master die and working dies were created for New Orleans and San Francisco. (Least likely because none others have surfaced) I look forward to the coin's arrival to see which one. Even if it is just the wrong picture it is a winner because I will have a VAM 1D - Flaky Eye for $37.01, and that is never a bad thing.
There's certainly more chatter on the obverse compared to the reverse and the staples don't line up front to back. Nice flaky eye.
1844-O half dime - $9.50. The O is hard to see, but it's there! As beat up as it is, I can't pass up a semi-key half dime for less than $10. Another semi-key half dime, a 67-S with AU details. There's even luster! For $30, there was no way I was walking away from the table without this.
1890 Queen Vicky 1/2d. Has some residue (I need to acquire some acetone) but it was 39 cents. I say VF-20 details - needs an acetone bath. 1966 Australia 10 cents, also 39 cents like the 1/2d. The luster is very strong and there's not that many marks - I say 65. 1932-B Swiss 5 rappen, probably low MS. 25 cents, local junk bin. It amazes me what dealers put in the "junk" bin sometimes.
I could agree with the 1867-S, still an okay buy for $30. They are usually waaaay overpriced on Ebay (like, examples worse than the one I have are $50) and it was hard to pass on it. The O is there, the pictures are just really bad. It's still hard to see, but easier to see in person. In any case, I'm still happy with the coins - better than buying a 1909-S VDB with an added mintmark. I wouldn't buy an SVDB anyway, but still.
I got this off the bay for $49.99, slightly less than the 50 dollar limit. It's around XF40 with an old cleaning.
Not a huge deal, but should be an easy double-up. I got these 3 1943-D Walking Liberty Halves raw for $45 total. All 3 are FS-101 DDO.
These were under $50 total. The photos are horrible but from what I've read the Library of Coin albums are great for toning UNC red coins. I'm thinking the seller just couldn't get his camera to capture the toning correctly so he took whatever images he got. Even with crappy images you can tell there is good color on some of them and at least one steelie is toned. I'll update the images when I have them in hand.
This is the closest comparable I can find: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1797-S-133-...877784?hash=item3a97159758:g:drgAAOSwq7JUEcDN
I really respect those who can detect the differences in MS grading. I'll have to settle for low grade old copper attribution. I'm much better at that. But I do see a die break on the obverse through the first three stars to below the 1(921) and another from the (192)1 through the stars to just above the right of the top of (UN)U which I'm sure is a diagnostic for some variety.
$28.00 for the pair and I couldn't of picked these up faster. I got them yesterday and they will definitely be one of my best pick ups of the year!