Every grading service makes mistakes in both directions. The trouble is when you buy an over graded coin in the holder, you are stuck unless you...
When you see bad photos, don’t go any further. Forget about the offering. Bad pictures are almost always for the seller’s benefit. Usually he’s...
Some of us accept it as gospel. That comment applies to CAC as well.
If you have not shopped for MS-65 and even 66 graded coins recently, you might be in for a shock. Not too long ago, someone posted photos of an...
Here is another type of the Reeded Edge, Capped Bust Half Dollar, an 1838. This type was also issued in 1839. The most obvious difference is the...
Sometime before January 2012 when I purchased it.
Yes, the 1836 Lettered Edge half dollars were struck on a screw press like all of the previous issues.
The belief is that the 1836 and later receded edge half dollars were struck on steam driven presses. The previous lettered edge coins were struck...
NGC graded this one MS-64, which on the conservative side IMO.
NGC graded this 1832 dime MS-65.
They won’t let me use your quote, @masterswimmer. The crack runs from the right of the 7th star, through the cap and up to the rim, to the left...
I hate the holders. They hide too much and the plastic that under the plastic is not original packaging. The only way I would get involved with...
Yes, the reeded and shaved edges were placed there to discourage shaving metal from the coin. The reeded edges on the clad coinage are throw backs...
Yes, the strike is sharp on this one despite the fact that the obverse die is rusted. Note the raised marks on Ms. Liberty's cheek and in the field.
Here is another close collar coin from the 1830s that is in high grade. In 1836, the Philadelphia Mint introduced the Reeded Edge Half Dollar....
One of the fundamental factors to learning how grade coins is to have a firm picture of the design in your mind. The way to do that is to see a...
The slab grade is somewhere between AU-58 and MS-62. I think that see some rub on the reverse, which would make less than Mint State.
I have to go with the 1907 High Relief $20 gold in MS-65, which I have posted here a couple of times.
I don’t know, the Kennedy bust and the Great Seal look like they have a lot of contrast. Nice coin! Although you can’t beat the Ultra Cameo coins...
My grade would be VG-7, but they will probably call it a Fine-12. The TPGs grade these key coins loosely. That is actually a nice coin. About...
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