I've been trying to get some Walking Liberty half dollars together, not so much for a set or anything but just b/c it's one of my favorite designs. I went to my favorite coin store a couple of weeks ago and he has around 6 slabbed Walkers that are mostly in the MS63 to MS64 range and I looked at them and they are terrible looking. Also I've bought a few slabbed coins that don't look that good and seem to have gotten moisture in the slab or something and it messes the whole grading up in my eyes. The example I'm using captures the head fairly well so I will leave it. Now keep in mind that as far as the devices go there are special areas like the date for one which is a very strong date but it makes me ask, don't they look at the coin as a whole or only certain parts? Another thing is this obviously has a cud looking thing on lady Liberty's face, I mean it could be wear but whatever it is it certainly detracts from the coin IMO. What's up with this grading stuff? Some of the slabbed coins I've seen just don't make the grade in my book. Anyone? Here's the ebay number to see the original pic 200390320161
OK, I'm confused. What exactly is that you are calling a cud looking thing ? Based on the pics you posted I can't really see much. Can you post larger pics so we can see what you are talking about ? As for the grading, yes they look at the entire coin. But what specifically is that you are questioning ? MS63 is a pretty low grade. It means the coin is marked up pretty bad, or has a lousy strike when it shouldn't, or has lousy luster, or has lousy eye appeal - or all of the above. Perhaps a better question would be what do you think an MS63 Walker should look like ?
Alright!! Yes on the face it looks like there's a big cud but I'm not sure what it is. The seller took care of me very well so I'm not trying to return it or anything like that. I hope you can see some of what I'm talking about as I'm just learning to pic. Anyways around a 16th of an inch above the date there's a brown spot and on her torso area there's also brownish, you may be able to see this in the sellers pic. I didn't know that MS 63 is a lower grade, dang! That's all I can afford. Guess I'll save up my ducats. Oh, in answer to your question I thought an MS63 would look better, I will make a mental note on that they may not. thx G
One of the reasons I hate the new coin grading system. You would think the MS means MINT STATE which should mean like from the Mint. Unfortunately there are seveal grades of MS and very few really mean like from the Mint unless they mean the Mint produces coins that show wear, scratches or markes. In your instance you appear to want MS-71or better and there is no such grade you know. Your talking about a coin that is no longer made and to find many of them in really, really highest grades would cost, cost, cost. I've got several sets of those and set #1 is in really great shape but to try for all really high MS grades is out of my league. I'll be happy with whatever I have.
Point taken Carl. Here's another pic, now the sellers pic shows the face thing really well, but I have included another. Like I said I have a few slabbed coins and I'm not that impressed. I'm not looking for an MS71 (funny), this coin simply looks like it has an error to me and being graded as an MS63 I wasn't expecting to see an error, that's all. :bow: Here's the ebay number to see the original pic 200390320161
Looks alot better than my only slabbed Walker (which I received in a "lot" of twenty low-grade halves off of eBay)... I've bought quite a few MS Walkers from my local dealer, mostly common date (1940's), in the $25 price range. I'm pretty sure at least one of them would grade MS65.
Yes I agree, I've picked up a few from $15 to $25 from my local guy that turned out to be really nice. I think I'll continue doing that b/c the graded halves he has look very blahzaa. :thumb:
I agree with MS63 and MS64 Walkers looking bad, but not all of them do!! It's a challenge, but you can find some really sweet looking Walkers in those grades if you look hard enough. Here's my short set of MS64 Walkers, really should take some better pics of these:
Those look great!! I can't see any of the detail but to have a group of MS64's all together is good enough for me. :thumb: Since nobody was seeing what I was I had to grab my best walker and compare. My bad!! This coin looks pretty good except for the brown stuff that I can't pic up. I was blind but now I see!! Oh well, no harm no foul.
