This has turned into an excellent thread, with great points being made by all!
I generally only use a ruler on the really tricky ones. Usually, relative positions of letters, stars, dentils, and devices is quite sufficient to...
Generally if you expect a coin to be worth less than $300, the cost of certification doesn't make any sense at all. Even then, the $30 you will...
The true value of an item is determined when people agree to pay a price for something in an open market. Silver, copper, nickel, and gold are all...
Strikeluster, I agree with your O-#'s. PCGS graded the 1817 a 40, and the 1829 a 45. From the pictures, I think the '17 is undergraded, but I...
Those are prices for a Shield - NO CENTS means he's talking about a V nickel (they minted both in 1883). Personally, I would wait for an UNC...
I usually shoot on the absolute lowest F-stop I can. With the settings I usually use, that's around F3.5. My aperture varies between 1/300 and...
You don't need new lights - that is what I use and I have three of them also. You just need to adjust the aperture and f-stop settings on your...
There is no hoarding of post '70 halves. The mintages are terribly low, and the vaults are full of them. No one uses them. No one hoards them....
Mumu, where does the old currency go when it is driven out? The whole point of Gresham's law is that people are going to keep the good money...
I didn't mean that it was literally paint. I meant that it is some sort of Artificial Toning chemical applied by a paintbrush. The streaks of...
What do you think "driving out" means exactly? It means that the coins are no longer used for commerce. If they are not used, then where do they...
Mumu, do you understand what Gresham's law actually says or means? I suggest you read the Wikipedia article about the subject, and then report...
The colors on that nickel literally look like they were applied with a paintbrush. Until proven otherwise, I am going to assume that's exactly...
I absolutely guarantee you that coin has not only been dipped, but polished harshly with a wire brush as well. The unnaturally white surfaces,...
Its been too long since I've bought any of these, so when I saw them my itchy trigger finger slipped and bought them both. Guessing the grades...
Very nice coins. That 41S Walker is amazingly well struck - if you ever decide to sell her, please let me know.
Chris, my point is that halves were silver while everything else wasn't. I'm talking about the mid- to late- 60's. If they were losing popularity...
That is a gorgeous coin! The simple explanation for PCGS' grade is: they don't designate PL on anything but Morgan and Canadian coins. I don't...
Ah, yeah, I prefer to have them already labelled as such by NGC. That takes out all the ambiguity of a photograph. Very few make the cut, but the...
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