Grant Commemorative Half MS65?

Ok still new to coins as I have had to say on numerous occasions. I am very interested in purchasing a Grant Commemorative Half Dollar. My son's name is Grant and I thought it would be nice to hand down someday. Anyways I was looking at this coin on Ebay and it says that it is MS65. It just doesn't look MS65 to me, but again big time Newbie. Any thoughts??
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=390049695319

Hope the link works.
Thanks!

 

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I agree with the grade. It has some toning on it, that is probably what you are seeing. Sure is a pretty coin. But expensive! That price will probably nearly triple.

 

Thanks! I am sure it will go up. I'll keep an eye on it though. They have been awfully tough to find in MS condition for a decent price. I'd like to not settle for a lesser grade, but hoping not to have to break the bank either.

 

Unless you just have to have a 65 you would probably be better off getting a 63 or 64 at less than half the price of a 65.

 

Love the toning. Looks like looking at details in teh moonlight.

 

That current price ain't gonna last too long.....

 

That photo does not give me a reason to doubt the grade assigned by PCGS of MS65. However, that coin has zero eye appeal IMO. This is not an extremely rare coin as the seller would like you to believe. The fact is that mintages of commemoratives can't be taken at face value and certainly can't be compared to mintages of regular issue coins to determine rarity. These coins were minted for collectors and many of them remain in mint state today. The population of a Grant (no star) in MS65 is 1357/465. The eye appeal of this issue can vary greatly from butt ugly to phenomenally beautiful.

I think you should wait until a nice one turns up on the market like this one:




My advice is don't jump right in and buy the first one you see. You will have about 3-5 of these to choose from in every Heritage signature auction. Be patient and wait for one that floats your boat. I have checked the current Heritage auction and the two MS65's available are not much better in terms of eye appeal than the E-Bay one.

 

thanks..where can I see the Heritage listings?
The only comparable coin that has recently had a completed sale on Ebay (that I could find) was MS66 and went for $850. There have been a few "buy it now's" that did not go through. I guess they are asking too much.

And the one you have in your pic, looks pretty nice to me.

Oh and if I remember your posts and description correctly you may appreciate it that it was a good score at the tables that will allow me to purchase this coin.

 

Thats some purty toning, Lehigh!:bow:

 

Did you expect anything less? :kewl:

I agree with Lehigh... for what its worth. There is nothing from what I can tell from the pics why the coin wouldn't go ms65. But it definitely has some ugly toning on it which I would guess made you question the grade in the first place. Like Lehigh said, these are offered quite often even in lower grades, but with much better eye appeal. I would just be happy to have one period! I always get outbid whenever I am going after one of these.

 

Based on that logic, you should also look into a painting by Grant Wood. An autographed photo of Cary Grant. Some DVD's staring Hugh Grant along with some Cds by Amy Grant.

 

commemoratives have fallen in value quite a bit, you can find grant MS65 with good eye appeal for around $400.

My grant with star ms64 have depreciated by about $500, will get grant no star eventually....

 

ditto lehigh's comments.

 

Although I would not advise a noob to jump into Heritage auctions but rather work through a dealer with a return policy, I agree completely with the advice of not jumping right it. These are common coins (even in 65) and it will be in dcure2002's best interest to wait on a particularly nice one.

That said, I see no reason to not consider the eBay coin -- it looks reasonably attractive and natural -- and the seller has a good return policy. I do not, however, follow the prices of these coins closely enough to know how good/bad the price is, so take the above FWIW.

Good luck...MIke

 

Can never go wrong with PCGS graded coins my friend...
NGC and PCGS are the top dogs...
If you are never sure about a grade, just show it here, PCGS and NGC, as good as they may be, are not perfect, and grading is an opinion, so we might have a different opinion than them...
Back to the coin, it is lovely, and the toning is a bonus.. Agree with 65, 100%

 

I do like the portrait of U.S Grant on that coin he has that careworn look on his face, and lovely toaning as well Lehigh. Dcure good luck with trying to find one for your son :hug:

 

Mike,

Reasonably Attractive? Next you are going to tell us that coin has a good personality. I know you are trying to be nice to that coin, but consider this. Try telling a woman she is reasonably attractive and see how that goes over.

It will take some time for dcure to find a Grant with superior eye appeal, but that is a good thing. By looking at many examples, he will get a feel for how to grade the Grant commem. There is no way to even give an opinion of grade with the photos of that E-Bay coin. However, the photos are good enough to tell it is ugly.

 

the most recent bid/ask : $585/$630 Dealer to Dealer

 

Nice

I have liked Grant as a historical figure and had studied a lot on, and about his life. Great general but a President not.
Liked his smoke and drink but why not , no FDA to tell him different. He finished his personal writting a couple of days before he passed away.
On that subject you have to listen to George Carlin on the subject.
He passe away= nice guy not to many enemies. Oh that SOB finally packed it in = not well liked at all. He goes through a whole routine.
We were at the old Circle Star in the San Francisco south bay area to see him. It was my wifes 40th. He came out to the drink stand to get something and I mentioned to him about her birthday. He walked over to her and spoke her name Judy ? Is it your birthday ? She turned around he he said how about a birthday kiss ? She had been a life long fan but that sealed the deal . That was 25 years ago.
She still remembers that on September 30th every year.

Pep

 

You can see from the lack of bidding on this item, the lack of interest even though it's in a PCGS MS65 holder. For me and many others I would suggest , it has zero eye appeal. Now if your not in a rush to get one , you can certainly do much better for 64 or 65 money.