It looks AU to me...and possibly polished, I can't tell. The strike seems a bit off-center, too. Too much going on to offer a value. Welcome to CT!
Au sounds about right. I would think 45 dollars or so? Thats off the top of my head, and for a graded coin.
Just a little background... Some 1883 nickels didn't have "CENTS" on the back until people realized that they look like the $5 gold pieces from the time. Some dishonest people would gold plate them and spend them as $5 gold coins and make a huge profit. When the government found out, they obviously had to change it to stop the fraud. That's why some of the early 1883 nickels don't have cents on the back and others do. All of the liberty nickels after that have cents on the back. I am sure some other members can expand on this but its just a cool little fact I learned from my Whitman coin book lol.
I would only add that (at the time) the "No Cents" nickels were hoarded in great numbers...and not the "With Cents" variety. It's the 1883 "With Cents" variety that is the more rare of the two.
Looks like a die crack at 6:00 on the reverse. It also looks like green fungus in that area so I would place a lower value on this coin. It's an 1883 No Cents. That was how they were first minted but due to gold plating and making them appear as a five dollar gold piece the word CENTS was added. Welcome to CT.
Very strong details from what I see especially the forehead hair on the obv. The rev. exhibits strong details also. The coin has been washed, waxed and buffed, IMO and if I am wrong, I would grade the coin AU55 because of the high point wear and hits. Value is ~ $50.00 - $75.00 IMO.
Since the item is/was from an LCS, my updated assessment of the coin is: Cleaned and worth about $20.00.
You guys sure? I was researching it and if its one in certified mint state(MS+) it could go for about 200 and the people sellin it on ebay goin for like 3000 lol
the people selling it on ebay is right but a normal "with cent" will go for 200 his goes for like 75 but people are selling them for thousands, so he could get lucky
i was wrong about the 200, it will probably go for 75 but look on ebay! Alot of people are selling them for thousands...
Regarding your 1883, it's hard to say what you have there. It could be that the photos don't do it justice, but like others, it appears to be a cleaned coin. That it sold for $14 would suggest to me that it is a cleaned coin especially given the nice details left on the coin. Reverse has some damage and would normally detract from the overall value, but as a details coin, not too significantly. I think you made a fair deal on the specimen and certainly fun to look at! The 1908 has some environmental toning (damage) and a typical specimen at that. You will find better as you go along, but nice to have in your collection as you look for a nicer one. Welcome to the mix here!!