Hi, can anyone give me any idea as to how scarce this coin is, possibly the value, and just some general info on it?? I believe that is is the B19, but it is not attributed. It is in the early second gen. PCGS holder, graded VG10. I feel sure it would upgrade, but don't we all?? Just wanted some info. Have looked for a Bolender varity book for sale on E-bay, but haven't found one. Don't want to spend a lot on a book, because I don't mess with early dollars. I have a friend who might want to trade for some gold, and want to make sure I have a fair price on mine when we talk trade. Thanks :bow:
I never found one either. I wound up with the Jules Reiver book which (I believe) succeeded and built upon the Bolender work. MAYBE the Reiver book is the #1 Bust Dollar book right now (I've not heard of an alternative; hopefully someone with more knowledge will chip in). Be sure to check Amazon.com . I personally feel the Reiver book is less descriptive and more difficult to use than other specialist books (Breen, Noyes, Overton, etc).
I looked around on Heritage. The B-19 is sometimes referred to as R-4, sometimes R-5. When one gets this specific on date, variety, and grade, one doesn't find a lot of sales records. I found an F15 which sold for $1265. Be very careful, of course. That doesn't mean the coin you're considering is worth that much, even if it really does upgrade to F15. Most don't. And of course, be certain about the attribution. I don't have the book handy, so I can't supply the unique diagnostics for B-19. As always "buy the coin, not the slab".
I have a book at home - took my coin store a couple of months to find one for me. I will check it when I get home.
You can use pics on Heritage to compare his to, to determine if it is a B-19 (BB-155): http://coins.ha.com/common/search_r...de+matchall&Ns=&Ntt=1799+BB-155&Ntk=SI_Titles Ribbit
Fair enough, but be careful. Many coins are misattributed. Yes, Heritage is very professional, but they aren't perfect. Nobody is. Base your final decision on the book and your own analysis - not unlike grading.
I catch Heritage making mistakes quite often but they get it right more than they get it wrong. Also, I wouldn't go by just one pic, I'd do several and also I try to find ones that were attributed by a TPG, but they are also known to get it wrong but Heritage seems to catch the TPG errors for some reason? Ribbit
Lets see - B19 say obverse 3 - stars 1,2 and 3 are doubled. Heavy crack from dentil to center tip of star 3 and down to lower point on star 3. Another crack from star 3 to star 2 and then to star 1, slightly under lowest curl and through all 4 digits of the date. This one looks properly attributed http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=390&Lot_No=23588 Reverse same as bolender 2 reverse c. Many lumps 1 between n in united and arrow heads, lumps under E in united, heavy line from D in united. Now if you have the correct obverse, but a different reverse I would say it could be a bolender 18. Some nice pictures of the coin would help.
I'm sure their batting average is high. That increases your chances of success tremendously. reason 1) There are some very sharp people at Heritage. reason 2) I'm guessing on this one... don't forget they make their money on % of hammer price, so it behooves them to have a high hammer price. They truly want it to sell for top dollar. So if a coin is undergraded, they would like to see it in a hotter slab. Similarly, if a coin is a rare die variety, that want that known to all. So I bet they look at valuable coins very closely. I wonder if they ever submit consigned coins for upgrades / attribution ?
I've been wondering if they have certain peeps "on retainer" to attribute coins for them? That's how I'd do it, if I was them. Ribbit Ps: I do sometimes see them quoting Grellman or Snow on certain coins. :kewl:
