"BU" is a very old terminology. It says that the coin is Uncirculated or Mint State, but it does not say anything about how nice of a Mint State...
AU-55 to 58, slab grade MS-61.
Whatever it might, and I think that it has been “helped,” I don’t find it attractive and worthy of a premium price. The darkest colors have gone...
Off the top of my head, I know that No Stems reverse die was paired for half cents from 1804 (C-13), 1805 (C-1) and 1806 (C-1). All of those...
Here is the "Scott restrike" of the only coin that had "Confederate States of American" on it. The "Confederate Cent" may have been for real, but...
Just a brief history lesson. The New Orleans Mint was run by three entities in 1861. According the Red Book, it struck 330,000 half dollars when...
MS-65
Here is a genuine 1861-O half dollar. [ATTACH] [ATTACH] The die breat for the Confederate coin is not spectacular. Here are a couple of...
Phony toning.
By 1872 some of the scandals that would plague the Grant presidency were coming to light. Chief among them was the Credit Mobilier scandal which...
You can try these. If they don't work, that's all I can do. The vaults are all closed. [ATTACH] [ATTACH]
There are good half dimes around. I kept this one after I bought a Proof for type because I like it and the date. It is graded MS-64. [ATTACH]
Choice VF details, cleaned. Maybe it's the picture, the color really looks washed out, like the surfaces have been stripped. it's got that white...
I played the crack-out game when I was dealer because there was money to made doing it. As a collector, it's not worth the expense and effort....
Yes, but that extra point often adds a ton of money to the price. When registry fanatics get involved, logic and good sense sometimes go out the...
I think that coin has been cleaned, and that it has acquired secondary toning after it was cleaned or dipped. The “shine” on the piece looks...
Getting a grade higher than MS-67 for a coin from this era is an unrealistic expectation. PCGS has graded 6 in MS-68 and one in 68+. There is a...
Noyes is good guy, but his grading standards are the harshest on the planet. They are so conservative that you can’t really compare what he says...
The grading game between EAC and the rest of the U.S. coin market is similar to the grading used for ancient coins and hammered English. The...
One aid to learning how to grade coins is look at how much detail there is in a design when it is Mint State or Choice AU. From there you can...
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