They are under graded, but what do you expect to get? Coin 1 has something (a depression between between 9 and 10 k, between stars 4 and 5,...
“Smoothed” is usually something more. It involves removing something beyond surface. You disturb something below that. Think about how deep a...
My grade would be MS-64. There are quite a few marks under the toning that are not, or at least didn't used to be, consistent with the MS-65...
"Smoothed" means that metal has been moved, usually to cover-up marks and scratches. It's done to make the coin look better, and perhaps fool a...
The U.S. Mint drove additional metal into the planchets to increase their weight during 1794 and part of 1795, not to fill a hole that someone...
From what I've read, tin corrodes at low temperatures. That is consistent with my observation that the process can be checked by storing the item...
The design is nice, but as many collectors have insisted over the years, it does not have much to do with the United States. This is really a...
Who knows what is foolish? This feels like the late 1970s and early '80s all over again. Fuel prices are inflating the economy, the Fed has put...
Heritage auctions had its DeWitt sale of political items this week. The prices realized were "aggressive" to the least. Many items went for way...
Here's the logic if this deal really was random. The seller buys a roll of 1909-S cents in low grade. He buys another roll of 1909-VDB cents in...
As W. C. Fields sat down the pay poker with three other guys, one of them asked, “Is this a game of chance?” “No,” the great comedian answered,...
Yes, the price is too high even if the coin had not been holed and plugged.
It looks genuine, but the surfaces have been stripped at given a layer of artificial toning that looks really artificial. It was probably part of...
At least AU-58 with a shot at low end Mint State. It’s got a light rub.
For me the “treasure hunt” is learning history, politics and economics. The grading and learning about what is valuable stems from that. It sounds...
EF-40 was my number before I saw the slab. Don't waste your money. The coin might get an EF-45 from NGC, but it's not worth it, and it's worth...
I think that the low condition estimates were connected to the toning, which I would say is original. These coins are prone to unattractive...
The sharpness is better than it might appear on the surface. I'd say EF-40.
The way my tastes run, if a coin or token has a mark on it that is going to bother me every time I see it, I pass. Aside from 19th century U.S....
There should be nothing wrong with collecting Confederate currency and learning something about the history, economics and design factors that...
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