My main collecting interest is in ancient coins but I do enjoy the handful of US coins I own too. Here is one of them, a capped bust half dollar. I just took some photos (not great, I know, but the best I can do right now) and put them together in this little presentation: I am curious what you all think the coin's grade is? With ancients, grading is less exact and there's a lot of room for interpretation; I know that US coins are graded much more stringently but I'm not equipped with that kind of experience. Thanks! And, feel free to post your own Capped Bust coins, or any other early US coins.
I’ve been collecting US coins long before I got into ancients. Almost all of my US coins are slabbed, unlike my ancient coins which are kept raw:
Struck from worn out and broken dies...coin is high VF...30 to 35. Most of the missing detail on the reverse was never there when the coin was new. Here is an AU of the same die marriage.
Thank you all very much! @johnmilton The photos don't show it very much but there is actually a good bit of darkish discoloration on the surfaces, so I don't think it has been cleaned. @okbustchaser Thanks for posting that! Hadn't thought of the worn dies (although I did notice the big die crack on the obverse (7 o'clock)
Nice coin. I think all of the previous posters are spot on: - it sure was weakly struck, i.e. some areas are expected to have a “worn look” - it may have been lightly cleaned - it should grade VF30-ish or maybe get a net grade because of the cleaning Looks like O-102a R2, but I am tired and won’t bet the farm on it.
I think VF-something and defer to others with more knowledge of the series. From the photos it looks like it was cleaned in the past and then retoned, but I think it would get a straight TPG grade. I really like the design of the early busties.
