POST #1 of 2 Hi Everyone, As I've written before I'm relatively new to coin and bullion collecting (and am enjoying it a lot!). A friend who has done a lot for me asked me for some help. Her mother-in-law passed away and left some coins in bag which her husband is much too overwhelmed to deal with. She knows nothing about coins and asked me for help because she thinks I know more than her (just slightly more than nothing! ) and she doesn't know how to begin dealing with them. There are about 60 US coins from 1917 - 1974. I looked up each coin in the Red Book, graded it to the best of my (in)ability and entered all the info into a spreadsheet. But I have a bunch of questions and would appreciate any and all help and advice. 1. There is a 1974 Ike Dollar where on the Reverse the letters "T" & "E" in "United" have weak definitions relative to all the other letters. I've attached pictures (though it's not as visible in the pictures as in real life). Is this an error of any sort? 2. I can't really tell clearly on some of the pictures in the Red Book what a Double Die looks like. So I took pictures of the coins that had them listed in the Red Book. One of them is a 1942 Quarter with the pictures below. 3. Again with Double Dies, she has 3 Dimes from 1964 and that's another year where there could be Double Dies so I've included pictures below. CONTINUED IN NEW POST BELOW
To me they all look like normal circulation wear coins. One of the Dimes is a slight MAD but that's not worth extra.
Post #2 of 2 My next questions involve the Red Book & advice needed on Selling the coins. 4. In describing the Grades for the Morgan Dollars, on page 237 of the 2020 Red Book, it describes the Grade of "AU-50" as "Slight trace of wear on the bust shoulder and hair left of forehead, and on eagle's breast and top edges of wings." What does it mean by "shoulder"? There is only a neck in the picture of Lady Liberty and no shoulder. (Pic of the page below.) 5. In the listings for the Washington Quarters on pages 179-180 of the 2020 Red Book it lists grading descriptions beginning with a grade of F-12. But in the center of page 180 under "Silver Coinage (1932 - 1964)" it has a column for a grade of VG-8. However there is no description of the grading for VG-8. Why? (Pics below.) 6. On page 164 of the 2020 Red Book where it lists the Roosevelt Dimes (1946 to Date) at the top of the page it shows 2 pictures of Doubled Dies. The picture on the left of a 1960 Doubled Die Obverse clearly shows the Doubled Die. But I can't seem to see on the picture on the right of the 1964-D Doubled Die Reverse where the Doubled Die is. I included a picture of the page below. Can anyone help me with this and point out where the Double Die-ing can be seen on the picture? 7. I realize that the prices in the Red Book are those that a Dealer would sell coins for. Do I need to buy a Blue Book to figure out what a dealer would PAY for the coins? Or is there a general percentage I can apply to figure that out? 8. Is there any similar free and reliable online reference of what Dealers are paying for certain coins? 9. What would be the most cost effective with the least effort way for my friend to sell the coins now that she has a basic idea of their basic worth? (She is not going to use eBay.) Is presenting the coins to a couple of local coin shops the way to go? If so, should she bring the list I made for her with the Grades and Red Book prices?
MAD is "Misaligned Die"... Coin is slightly off-center during the strike. Interesting but not a particularly unusual occurrence. The VG-8 you are seeing is in reference to the Standing Liberty quarter which preceded the Washington quarter. It is a very desirable series and collector interest merits pricing in the lesser grades. As far as figuring a true value. That is a bit more difficult. Most common series and dates will be valued pretty closely in line with the spot silver charts. You can look at auction history to get a true market value. I have found the PCGS price guide to be a fair indicator as well.
Thank you! I didn't know PCGS had a price guide. Why would prices be listed in something like a Red Book or a Blue Book if the value is really only Spot Silver price?
If you look at the page, it's the 1932 - 1935 Quarters (no Standing Liberties) and the first column is VG-8.
Well, the Redbook has been the standard since well before I was born. The Redbook is an invaluable resource to all collectors. Being in a day and age where there is so much information available, the acceptable market price of any coin can and does change overnight. The Redbook set that standard many, many years ago long before internet auctions and it is a standard still relied upon. The Redbook is written to be of value for all collectors. If I were a new collector and had a 1909-S, VDB cent passed down from my granddad, I could look at that guide and see right away that I have something of value. Hope that makes some sense.
And the dates of the coins in that column are 1925 to 1930. The Washington quarter series began 1932. Edit.... I see what you are referring to. The years dated 1932-1935. There are some desirable dates in those years that merit a value for lower grade coins. Sorry I mistook what you were showing.
Face value for the Ike. Silver melt value for the quarters and dimes. The bottom right dime may have full bands, and qualify for it with a minimum grade at MS 60. The full band dime is the only one worth keeping from that batch. The Red Book is a guide to value. Each year of publication the values are written in stone but the markets change daily. Do not be too bummed out, but don’t expect any windfalls from those coins. The coin market is depressed currently, so if you find something worth selling from your friends’ pile, be patient while you sell...otherwise be prepared to sell at deep discounts...Spark
MAD means one of the dies slipped in the holder during the strike and one side or the other is off-center. If both are off center, it is an Off-center Strike and worth a bit more premium.
There's a few sites you can check for Doubled Die coins http://doubleddie.com/228401.html http://varietyvista.com/
If the dies slip during the strike you get machine doubling. Misaligned dies occur during the set up of the press. The dies are installed and there are adjustments to allow the die to be centered over the opening of the collar. If they don't get those adjustments right the die will be off to one side. Only if both sides are off in the same direction, and part of the design is missing.
I'm guessing that the Red Book means the hair where the shoulder would be (the back part of the neck) if it was part of the design. Does anyone else have an opinion re this?
