I've been bidding for a couple of years on a 1909S Indian Head Penny. I finally won an auction on ebay last weekend and got the coin yesterday. Altough it has a small scratch on the obverse and a slight nick on the rim on the reverse, it looks like a strong VG-8 to me. You can also read the entire liberty on the coin. How would you rate this one?
Without the scratch I'd give it a F-12 and a tpg might market grade the year at VF-20 , but since it does have the scratch it might be bodybagged , still a nice 09-S Indian cent . rzage:hatch::hammer:
I agree with you about the potential for the F-12 rating without the scratch. I must say that it wasn't really too noticable until I took a digital photo and blew it up on my computer. The color on the coin was very nice and the rim showed little wear. The reverse was quite striking with the exception of a small cut on the rim at 2:30. The fact that I could read the liberty was also quite a surprise. The photos on ebay were quite poor and I was expecting much worse (may be a weak VG-8). At $375 delivered, I consider this a pretty good deal. I've seen coins of this similar quality go for $450 to $500.
Well if you sent it to ANACs it would probably come back with fine details. Looks like a the might be some corrosion between wreath and shield on the right. I would probably say price is about right - still a tough one to get. Just my opinion and I could be wrong.
