You ever buy a problem coin just because it's what you could afford?

I'll try again.

 

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This is a "problem" coin a obtained at Heritage a few years ago. $558.13 after fees. But it's the cheapest of it's kind by quite a ways. A couple of historical holes didn't bother me too much since many Large cents like this were sewn into soldier's jackets during the War of Northern Aggression.


The biggest problem in my opinion is being entombed in plastic.

ps @ R6, less than 2 dozen are accounted for.

 

I remember the days you could not even get something like this in good plastic. I'm glad that changed.

 

Did someone make a whirlygig out of that 1797? If so, that would make for a cool story behind the piercings. Sadly, there's no way to prove that beyond a doubt, but I'll go with it. The soldier's jacket story seems good too. Either way it's an interesting piece.

 

That's a problem that a hammer or vise could quickly fix. (And that is a coin I wouldn't mind having in my collection at all. When it is something that rare, who cares about the problem.)

 

Agreed. Being authentic is the most important with rarities.

 

I'll try again.

 

I don't have the nerve to crack them out. I'm too afraid of causing additional damage.

This is my graveyard:

S-45


S-94 Reverse wrongly identified as Reverse of 1794


1797 NC-5


S-210

 

Nice graveyard.

 

Yeah, a couple of times and I regretted it every time! Better to save, beg, borrow or sell something to buy a solid piece - at least that's the way it is for me.

Two come to mind - a raw Carson City Double Eagle with a scratch that earned it a details grade and an early type one double eagle that had a clean grade but an ugly mint made spot on it. Neither was much fun to own and when I sold them I was lucky to get out with minor losses. Not satisfying. Now I try to make every addition to my collection something interesting - not the best available necessarily, just something interesting about the coin and with no problems. I don't mind VF and XF grades. Don't generally go much lower. I Like circulated coins. Mint State coins seem boring to me. Hah!

 

I considered it for the $3 gold but I saved up and wound up glad that I didn't.

 

Pretty rare and interesting coin though. I wouldn't mind carrying it around in my pocket as a conversation piece! I have a couple of those sorts of things hanging around. It's cool to let the grandkids handle them!

Doug T

 

I've told this story enough times already, but here goes.

I bought an 1867-S half dime, bent, damaged, and possibly cleaned, for $30. It had nice AU details, however, and reasonable prices on 1863-67 S half dimes and dimes are very hard to find. I'm surprised that I even found one at the show. To another collector it may not be worth it. To me, it is absolutely worth it.

I will buy a coin if I like it and it fits my (very limited) budget. I liked that coin, and couldn't leave without it. I don't really know if I overpaid for it, because it's not an easy coin to place a value on.

 

Just as I was preparing to make an announcement of a truly rare find, new photos show post mint additions.

What am I talking about? I saw a 1795 Lettered edge on eBay which I immediately recognized as a S-76 and am always on the lookout for the S-76a lettered edge. After asking a couple of questions, I determined it to be a thin planchet (160 grains) which is presently unique according to most sources or one of "a few" according to Breen. This would be the second or at least R7+ at worst.

But the photo shows the N in the lettering to be the wrong font and almost certainly a S-76b with letters added post mint to change value from S-76b R1 to S-76a R5.

I am almost certain this seller was unaware of it and it's likely the previous owner was also unaware of this.

I'm torn about what value to place on an altered coin of this nature. It's certainly an interesting novelty piece.

If I actually obtain this coin, I'll be sure and post photos.

 

I've done worse and paid to have problem coins I've found, slabbed. Silver does good in the ground but copper? fugetaboutit.

Sent in this 1909 S, VDB and they wouldn't grade it without sending it in for conservation. It didn't look too bad beforehand because I'd let it soak in olive oil to try and clean it up. Came back dry, ugly and just plain hard to look at. (lol)

I'm tempted to bust it out, oil it down again, and stick it in a Whitman coin album. Only reason I haven't, is because it cost me $60.00 to have it conserved and slabbed.

 

"Just as I was preparing to make an announcement of a truly rare find, new photos show post mint additions.

What am I talking about? I saw a 1795 Lettered edge on eBay which I immediately recognized as a S-76 and am always on the lookout for the S-76a lettered edge. After asking a couple of questions, I determined it to be a thin planchet (160 grains) which is presently unique according to most sources or one of "a few" according to Breen. This would be the second or at least R7+ at worst.

But the photo shows the N in the lettering to be the wrong font and almost certainly a S-76b with letters added post mint to change value from S-76b R1 to S-76a R5.

I am almost certain this seller was unaware of it and it's likely the previous owner was also unaware of this.

I'm torn about what value to place on an altered coin of this nature. It's certainly an interesting novelty piece.

If I actually obtain this coin, I'll be sure and post photos."

I'm not going to get this one, but for educational purposes ONLY, here is the coin in question and below it is an authentic Lettered Edge.



This could easily sit in a collection for decades without the owner realizing it was not lettered at the mint.

 

LOL! I would never use Olive oil. I still have some Blue Ribbon.

 

I just added a couple of new tombs to my graveyard from Heritage, my second and third from them. The first was intentional. It is described as style 1 hair and so it is. But it will be my third S-146 R5-. The second was accidental when I thought I had been outbid on the S-146 and posted another bid. It turns out that it was the next lot. I have now Identified it as an S-185 R2 which is far more common than I usually collect.

S-146 Note - The top two strands of hair appear to be missing. Possibly struck through grease.


S-185

 

This just sold for $690. It will either leave the owner blissfully ignorant or upset. I was a little disappointed the seller did not remove it from the auction after I informed him of it's questionable edging, but he doesn't know me from ADAM, so I guess it's to be expected.

I feel almost complicit since I asked for the photos of the edge which caused the price to skyrocket.

 

For the trifecta, I stayed up late for this one:

Affordable rarity with problems: S-124 R5+ for $61.49. An undamaged one with similar detail just sold for $432 last month.