Just picked up this beauty on Ebay. Not 100% sure if it’s real though. It weighs 35.6 grams (in slab). Just want to check before I send it in to NGC. Notice the lines above the cap and below the ¢. Leave as much feedback please. Thank you!
C-B-D said it all... nothing to add except for a link: http://maibockaddict.com/1817-o-106a-r4-capped-bust-half-dollar
Yes it's the real thing but you may want to consider paying the fees to NGC. It will probably come back AU details/cleaned with no grade.
I completely agree. Im not sure its cleaned. There's no marks or "sparkle" that you get with a cleaned coin. Possibly whizzed?
They said it all. Real and cleaned. Probably over dipped so it’s not hairlined but the surface has that off look you get from a cleaned coin
Those lines are called "die cracks". They are a feature that can help attribute die varieties (e.g., O-106 for your coin). Why is the die variety important? Because a rare variety is more valuable than a common one.
Some background: "The screwpress that produced these coins was operated manually by two men. Each coin was manually fed into the screwpress and struck one at a time. The obverse and reverse dies were prepared by hand by mint engravers and each die was prepared slightly different from the previous die. When one die became worn or broken, it was replaced by another. Each time a die was replaced, whether it was the obverse or reverse die, it produced another new variety that later would be identified and numbered by Al Overton. "For each year from 1807 to 1836 of the lettered edge bust half dollars, Al Overton numbered each year’s different varieties starting with number 101. When an obverse or reverse die was replaced, another die variety was produced and it became the next variety, or number 102. When another die became worn or broken, the next variety was produced and it was numbered 103. When a die started to wear, cracks would develop on the dies and this would produce coins with diecracks showing on the coins. These diecracks are very popular among bust half collectors. Some collectors enjoy collecting different stages of die wear for any particular date and variety of bust half. They might collect a particular variety in its early die state which might not have any die cracks and also look for the same variety coin in a later die state which might have a small die crack and then look for the same variety coin in a much later die state which might have more or larger die cracks." More info: http://www.billscoins.us/index.php/en/talks And if you want to learn how to attribute early half dollars: Of course, shop around for best price.
First thing I saw was cleaned. And then, I have no idea who NNC is. Hopefully you got it for $100 or less.
I wouldn't mind a "cleaned" AU details bust half, as long as it was over dipped and not abrasively cleaned.
Genuine but cleaned. Here is a tip. If you want coins to be authenticated, shoot the photo straight on, not at an angle. Angle shots are one of the ways that those who sell counterfeits employ to hide problems.
Heres another tip: if you can’t tell if it’s real or fake... don’t buy it. When you’re spending that much money on a coin, you should know it’s real or not. I’m rather curious how someone your age can afford a $311 + $4 shipping, but I’m guessing the YouTube video you made as a GTG with that buffalo nickel giveaway helps finance that...
I’ve bought $1800 coins when I was his age. But then again I was making bank with an Aerospace Engineering job and coin dealing. Every situation is different.
