A few years ago we were taking a grading class and the instructors threw an entire collection of $2.50 Indian gold coins at us. Our job was to guess the grade of each coin. With the coin in hand & with good uniform lighting & conditions, you would think that some of us would get close to at least some of the coin grades. It was pathetic. Some people were guessing MS66 and others were guessing EF40. On the next coin, the opinions would flip flop from genuine to counterfeit. In the end, we were shown that every one of the $2.50 Indian coins was genuine and in a slab labeled AU (and we were guessing everything from fake to 66). It was punishment & the instructors really put us in our place. I swore that I would never buy a raw $2.50 Indian. Here is my new $2.50 Indian. It is in a PCGS slab and I will tell you that it is graded as a normal (problem-free) coin. Care to guess the grade? If you are like me with these Indians, then you have about a 1 in 10 chance of getting it right. I know that a couple of you are really good with this $2.50 Indian series. I apologize for my photos in advance. Very best regards, collect89 BTW, the instructors that day were Bill, Cameron, Jerry, and Tom. I think all the Indians belonged to Chet.
I will say between AU58 and MS62. In one pictures the color makes it look like wear in another in looks okay. I see lots of little tick marks, but can't get a feel from the pictures. Sorry, but will stick to my range.
No wear on the coin, very little contact marks can be seen from the photos... I am thinking 61 or 62 on this one. I'm going to say MS62, with some good luster P.S. In hand, is your coin that splotchy? Mostly talking about the obverse here. Possibly putty?
I'll respond without looking at any of the other posts, just to see how far off I am . Gold Indians definitely aren't my specialty. I don't see any wear, but a bunch of small hits, so I'll guess MS61. Btw great coin, I've always like the incuse design.
The putty factor is from my photography. I think there is no putty on the coin. There are a couple shades of gold going on. I think I need to get a camera with a better noise floor & pixel count.
These coins, are not only one of the hardest to grade, but sometimes can be the hardest to photograph. Before, I became good at my photos, I was struggling so hard with my quarter eagles, now I am pretty darn good at taking photos... It all has to do with lighting (as long as you have a somewhat decent camera) Just from the photos, it makes it seems like it has such strong details, good luster, but then the "putty factor" I'll take your word for it though, and still stick with the MS62 grade.
Yes, my pictures are all over the place. The first large obverse photo and the second reverse photo are my best depictions of the coin.
After reading all my grading guides, I'm going 62 +/- 1. I see no wear on eagles shoulder, I see a few hits on obverse field. Are those copper spots (stains) in field above indians forehead and just above the tail feather? Neat coin!
Xf 45, but I may be confusing toning for wear. How's the luster? Where is there wear? These are questions that your pictures (no offense ) make it difficult to distinguish.
I see no wear on the coin, looks MS On the other hand I think I might be seeing where on the indian's headdress
In the original pictures, it looks like rub on all the classic spots - the cheek, the jaw, and the eagle's feathers. But in the first slab shot, it looks rub-free. These photos are all over the place, color and lusterwise. I'm going on the first set of photos only. AU58. Very nice fields; these are routinely banged. I've even seen bangs on MS64s (very pricey). Good detail on the Indian's feathers. If that's not rub, I bet it pulls a 62.
snapped a quick picture of the slab I just set the coin on my desk & snapped a quick picture of the slab. Son of a gun... It may be the best picture I have taken of the coin. You can’t see much detail on the coin in this picture but the color seems about right. I think the coin in-hand is an AU58 to MS62. If anyone guessed in that range, then I think you were right on. MS61 is the grade that I’d give it after staring at the coin for 20-minutes. In our grading class a few years ago, I think we were given all of 5-seconds to form our opinions on all those $2.50 Indians. That was punishment. Don’t these $2.50 Indians sell for about the same amount of money in any grade between AU58 and MS62 anyway? I suspect that if it were sent in 10 times, that it would come back in a MS62 holder as many times as 60, 61, or 58. That is just my suspicion. I have one free submission for PCGS but I should probably save that for another coin. Thanks for letting me share & very best regards, collect89
For the 14 common dates, there is fair price separation for AU58, MS61 and MS62. AU58 $210-$230 MS61 $280-$340 MS62 $460-$560 Rarely will a resubmitted 58 make 62, but jumping to 61 is fairly common. Beware of cleaned $2.5 Indians in slabs ! Even from reputable dealers. For the 1911-D, there are big, big jumps with each grade quanta. As always, the most pleasing coin is not necessarily the highest graded. My 2nd favorite $2.5 Indian is an AU55 - the lowest of all. It has a wonderful color, so I like it.
Thank you for all the detailed information! Thank you for all the detailed information! I bought the coin because I liked the coin. I like the color in hand. I inspected it carefully for any evidence of circulation on the fields & by all appearances, it is an uncirculated coin. I did not particularly like the grade on the holder but I liked the coin.
Just a hard coin to grade... 62's can look like 60's, 60's can look like 62's... 58's can look like 62's... etc... Well I am glad you are happy with the coin
The $5 indians are even more expensive than these quarter eagles in uncirculated....I had at the time to buy an AU58 PCGS because of the huge price jump At the time I bought it raw from a reputable dealer, old Sahara Coins in NV before it went sour. PCGS grader worked there and graded it AU55. It came back from both ANACS and PCGS as AU58. (old anacs)
