I would have said AU-50, and I still say AU-50. It's got a lot wear, but the close-up pictures shows enough luster to make it an AU.
MS-63. It has some earmarks of an MS-64, but it's got too many marks on the cheek. However, sometimes the grading companies give "CC" coins a push.
You can do this for a number of issues. For many of them, the first year is often common, except in some cases where the design changed in the...
Here is an 1853 $2.50 that NGC graded MS-62. This is a common date. [ATTACH] [ATTACH] And here is a better date and mint mark combination,...
It looks like it’s had something done to it beyond simple circulation. Unless is cheap, just beyond melt, I would pass. When it comes to gold,...
The mintages you see in references like “The Red Book” are not as carved in stone as you might think. The first mint did not keep records on how...
The coin is a sold EF sharpness. It has a strong, bold “WE.” The modern VF-30 will have the “WE” just barely readable.
Great Post!
I remember an episode of The Waltons where grandpa had a two cent piece that he was selling because the family needed money. The script said that...
Interesting. I did not know that. And yes, the Romans were brutal people when it came to preserving and expanding their empire. Ditto for the...
Unfortunately it has been cleaned. It’s too bad because the coin is unusually sharp for a circulated piece. Over time some of the original color...
Given that mint marks are no longer hand punched, something like does not seem possible directly from the mint.
If you do have it graded, I think that there is a small chance that it could come back as “cleaned.” It’s probably market acceptable, and given...
Did those guys really have that much appreciation for art? I think of them as brutish barbarians who would have preferred a fine ax that was good...
There are slightly cheaper alternatives although you almost never see them. As patterns, the Stellas were struck in other metals. A dealer I know...
When bank note reporters were advising banks about the coins they might receive over the counter, one illustration showed a Pine Tree Shilling,...
I wish I could afford the Flowing Hair dollar in that condition, but I can’t. I have seen them.
I think what you have would be called "strong 7 over 8 tail feathers" because you can see three of them. With the weak ones, you can't see any of...
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