Another buy today, paid $10 for it. Hope you like! I wanna grade it VF20, but may only be a F-15 or so.
According to David Lawrence's "The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters" you have a solid VF-20 there. I'd also like to buy one for $10. Care to share the dealer? John
My dealer grades and prices on the spot in most cases, which leaves a great deal of error. Love it! and until I have the chance to look at every coin he owns, I'll keep it a secret!
>>pparently I'm just to conservative as a grader? I see no reasonable answer as to the VF grade.<< I gotta agree - in fact, I would be just a little bit generous giving anything over an F-12 grade. Looking closely at the picture, LIBERTY is not *quite* complete (the bottom of the 'R' is a bit fuzzy), but close enough for me to give it a fine grade. However, the upper headdress feathers are clearly incomplete at the back of the head (a couple feathers almost completely merging with the cap), the outline of the ribbon is a bit indistinct in places, and there are absolutely*zero* details in the hair. The reverse is in better shape, and I could slide that by as a VF-20, although the vertical lines in the shield are suspicously weak.
I use this as a resource to grade barbers. It's just an opinion, but I think it is rather effective: http://www.barbercoins.org/Grading-BQ.html Based on that, I would give this coin an F-15. It appears to be a lock between F-12 and VF-20 to me. The reverse leans closer to VF-20, while the obverse leans closer to F-12. "Fine (F 12). On the front, all of the letters of LIBERTY will be visible, but the bottoms of a couple letters may be very weak or missing." This seems to fit the obverse. All the letters are there, but the bottoms of some of them are really weak if you notice. The reverse however has a lot of detail, especially in the eagles wings. It might go Vf-25 or 30 in my opinion. Either way, the obverse holds it back a bit.
For Barber coins, to be in F-12, "LIBERTY" usually must be complete. For VF-20, LIBERTY must be complete, and strong, as it is in this case. In addition the other detail on the obverse and reverse of this coin are stronger than is typically seen -- definitely strong enough to push it into VF territory. You might want to pick up a copy of either the ANA Grading Standards book, or the PCGS Guide to Grading and Counterfeit detecting. Both of these references have useful pictures that will help you learn the differences. That being said, there is nothing wrong with being conservative. However, if you are too conservative, you will never want to pay appropriate prices for coins, and you will be cheated when you try to sell.
I agree with what you are saying. There seems to be some debate as to what constitutes a strong liberty. In my opinion, this one is almost there, but the bottom of the "R" is almost completely missing. To me a strong liberty would have a complete "R". Though I suppose this could be a strike issue, or a grease filled die as on mine. If that were the case, I would agree with VF; but I can't tell.
To quote Lawrence: VF: Obverse -- "Liberty" is complete or virtually so (sometimes the left foot of "R" is weak). For Type I and II (1892-1900), the band under Liberty may be present. These coins grade VF-30 (VF/XF). Reverse -- Eagle wings have greater detail, as shown. John
Ok, if that's the case then I will concede. VF-20. The reverse would make up the difference. Either way, killer deal for $10!! I'd buy those coins in the dozens for $10 a piece if I could.
