Hey all... paid a visit to one of my usual local shops today and looked through their Barber halfs. The usual stuff...mostly G-Vg, then I came to a nice looking 1903o half that looked much nicer than the rest. It was marked $20. I picked it up along with three other nice looking G-VG halfs that were underpriced at $12 apiece. Talked the guy down to $50 for the four. Going back the the 1903o, I think I got a VF20 coin. It has a lot of the surface left, unlike 90% of the others I see, "LIBERTY" is 90% visible (the L doesn't show in the pic cause of the light but it is there), there is even a bit of luster to it (bad lighting on the second pic), and the banner on the back is complete. Redbook and Numismedia say $55 for a F12 and $120ish for a VF20. I think I did pretty well for about $17! What do you think?
For $17, you can't go wrong, but please don't base your buying decisions on Red Book or Numismedia pricing. Both of them overvalue most coins. Chris
That is very very true, for sure. I don't base my decisions on what they say. I use the books for a general idea of the rarity, mintages, etc. And I didn't look at the values until after I bought it. My point was I think I got a nice Barber worth much more than I paid.
I'd say you did pretty good. I'd call it F-15, if not VF. And from what I saw, it doesn't look cleaned, or at most, a light cleaning long ago.
Its definately very close to me. There are some things better and some things worse than the PCGS coin (thanks for the pics btw, mad Outcast!). I agree that it doesn't look cleaned. I'll settle on a F15, but I'm happy I got it! I can't be as happy as the fellow that came in while I was there though. Get this.... He goes up to the owner to sell a gold coin. I notice right away its a half eagle. Turns out its an 1849, probably in XF condition. The owner weighs it out at 8.3 grams, offers the guy $235 and he sells it. Here's the kicker... turns out the guy got it earlier that day at a 7-11 store. He bought a slurpee, paid with a $10 bill, and they asked if he wanted the $5 coin someone brought in that day or if he'd rather have a $5 bill. He took the coin and his 3 singles plus random change, and headed straight for the coin shop. Ahhh, the wonders of a slurpee never cease! :mouth: It was a plain 1849, not a "C" which would have been completely insane, but its still a crazy story. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.
yes, you did well. sorta like treasure hunting is always fun to rummage through bargin bins, you never know. thanks for sharing
It's tough to go by your photos, but the coin appears to likely be an F15 that has been stripped in the past.
Right now I'd call it an F-15 as well, if you could post a complete picture of the reverse I could give it a better stab. However, it is a nice honest coin with an old, possibly very old cleaning, the patination looks pretty good. I think you did pretty good for $17.
Here is a PCGS15,I still feel it is closer to the 20,like in the 18+ range,the jaw line looks like it still has meat of a 20 IMO
A nice coin and good buy to be sure, but I am not sure that it hasn't been harshly and improperly cleaned. In actuality, it would be an oxymoron to call any coin "properly" cleaned in my opinion.
