Here is a worn/raw (O-105) 1807 Draped Bust Half Dollar which I SOMEHOW managed to pickup for a remarkably reasonable price ($135) a couple of years age. Currently, I'm in the process of re-recording/documenting (lost all data months ago, grrrr...) my collection and have started with the halves. Will this half make it to F-12 or is it permanently relegated to GOOD condition. In your opinion of course . Many Thanks Ben
Bone, IMO the coin could squeak by as a fine. The dentils are crisp, there is a good amount of hair detail, and it is a weakly struck coin.
The only thing I see holding this coin back from an F-12 is the lack of detail in the wings, but I also agree with zaneman that this one would squeak by. Nice coin Bone! :thumb:
Big Z, Mark, and Shawn thanks for taking a look.:hail: As you can see it's a smidge off-center. Take Care Ben
Now how'd ya guess ? While the obverse would make the grade, the reverse doesn't F12 reverse - Half the feathers are visible in the wings. Breast and head are smooth. Letters in legend are worn but clear. Clouds and top of shield show considerable wear. The coin does not have half the feathers visible, and the legend is not even completely visible let alone clear. Grade = VG10
Is this the technical vs market thread? Both opinions work for me, lol Nice coin. Hey, Abon actually has a 1911-S Lincoln in MS-65 up now, maybe they have changed their ways and repented. I bet you could get an XF-40 outta them !!! Being so inexperienced on Bust's, I'd be more apt to read the grading book at VG, untill I really knew the market and what it would let go as a F. Hows that for straddeling the fence?
Fair enough Mike, but tell me - when a coin has that much wear - how can you tell it has a weak strike ? I know of no way.
A guess really. The shield has a lot of detail, but the wreath/wings don't. Just like my 1805 which suffers from the same type of weak strike. Also the rims/denticles look more like a VF/F coin than a VG coin. I'm no expert on the series by any means, and my previous posts were rather tongue-in-cheek...Mike
Yeah I knew that I'm certainly no expert either. And hopefully you realize that the vast majority of the time my comments are more to stimulate thought and give those who don't know something to think about when considering coins. They are never intended to be argumentative. edit - but if it helps to determine weak strike from wear - the top of the shield is one of the high points on the coin. So if the shield is well struck up, it is not likely the coin suffered from much of a weak strike.
If it is not weakness in this area, then explain to me why some DBHs show a full shield and no writing in the wreath, and others show a worn shield and writing in the wreath. Not knowing much on these coins, it would seem logical to extend my understanding of draped bust large cents, and just as it is with DBLCs, I'm would imagine that different areas of the design are weak on different die pairings. My observation of this type is that it is very similar and you see wildly different strengths of strike on these coins, and often in different areas. So the logic was a bit of an (un)educated guess, and I, like you, enjoy the discussion/debate and even friendly ribbing . Take care...Mike
The only explanation I could even begin to offer would be wear patterns or worn out dies. And like you, not knowing the coins that well or their normal characteristics for given dates, all I can do is use logic also. That being that if the high point is well struck - and since the high points are the last areas of a coin to fill when struck - then it is logical to assume that the coin was not weakly struck. At the same time I also realize that not all coins show a weak strike in the high points. Sometimes it is due not to a weak strike so much as it is to dies not being adjusted properly to one another - but for lack of another term we call that a weak strike as well. That being said, I think it always much easier to determine if a coin was weakly struck when the coin in question is in the higher grades. It is quite difficult to judge a weak strike on coins that grade under XF and often VF. Bottom line for me, I follow the standards and basic logic until someone who knows the strike charcateristics teaches me otherwise.
