1809 Classic Head Half Cent

Hello fellow coin peeps

Can you guys grade this for me? I was thinking VG-8, but I am no expert.

 

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I would agree with the vg 8, it's just to bad someone took the sandpaper to it.

 

I would go along with VG8 - but I would add details at the end because of the damage to the coin. I would net it to AG.

 

G-6 details, corroded- cleaned- scratched net AG-3

 

Wow, you net graded his coin a "Poor" (and I thought i was a tough grader) . While I will concede that those "scratches" are distracting, I must also add that I have seen uglier half cents. Whcih is why I'm thinking your net grade of "Poor" for his coin might be somewhat excessive.

 

ryanbrooks,

I know it's taboo on here to suggest such a thing but if that were my coin I might be tempted to experiment on it with some Deller's Darkener. Even it doesn't help any I doubt it would lessen the coin's value much.

 

Even when every word is readable, it would grade a P-1? WOW

 

OH! So you are saying it has G-4 Details? Okay, sounds good

 

Got it! Thanks

 

I disagree with this assessment and here's why:

obv - Hair shows no detail. LIBERTY is readable but ear, eye and rim are worn smooth. Stars are weak but visible.

1. Hair does show detail, if you look closer.
2. Ear, eye, and rim are NOT worn smooth, the eye is clearly visible and I can make out some denticles.
3. Stars are not weak, they stand out nicely.

rev - Letters in legend are well worn but partially visible. Wreath is worn smooth with bow and ribbon outlined.

1. Letters in legend are not well worn, they are just worn.
2. Letters in legend are not partially visible, they are fully visible.
3. Wreath is not worn smooth, I can easily see detail in the leaves.

I would grade this a VG-8 corroded & scratched (looks like someone scraped it across the sidewalk to remove the corrosion). Net G-4.

Ribbit

 

I was thinking the same thing. Sure the coin does not have great detail, but it isn't worn smooth. I can clearly see that the mouth is see-able, and it even has both lips. The eye you can see well too. As toad said, the starts stand out fairly well, and are quite bold. As for the reverse, every single letter is readable, and the bow has some detail, and not just outlined.

 

I agree with the grade of G-4, major damage, net PO-1.

After all, that's only a drop of two slots (G4 -> AG3 -> PO-1). Damage like that is really serious. Like they used it to clean barnacles off the bottom of a boat.

No sense in splitting hairs about whether or not a denticle peeps out from underneath the carnage.

 

You forgot AG-2

 

Actually, it is a drop of three slots because PO-1 is below FR-2.

 

The grade you are referring to is denoted as FR-2 which stands for "Fair Condiiton".

 

So there is no such thing as an AG-2? It would be a FR-2?

 

Maybe that's what happened?

Or maybe it's like that caveman beer commercial, where the one caveman invents the wheel to get the beer to the cave easier and in this case, instead of carrying the wheel (round coin) they laid it down and pushed the beer home with it underneath the beer and every once-in-a-while, they'd swap sides to try and get better glide out of the other side.

Ribbit