1872 S Liberty Seated 1/2 $ ~ MS63/64? massive die damage/breakage

i recently acquired this coin through an Ebay auction. i have looked around, bought books (i do know some things about coins certainly), searched online and have not found anything that looks like it damage-wise nor is there anything listed/noted anywhere else that suggests such a coin exists. it's very hard for me to get pictures that do this coin justice. the damage will be most easy to see. 4 of the 13 stars are missing. since the obv. side is uneven in strike, i suggest using the rev. side to more properly gauge the overall grade. to my eyes and experience this coin seem to be MS63-64! i would like thoughts on it's potential value (at auction for instance), who i should take it to for eventual certification (NGC seems most likely since the edge of this coin needs to be seen...ie: i do not want to cover the damage that exists there on both areas around the major lateral obv. crack lines-into the denticles-into the edge) and so on. does anyone here think this coin is news worthy??? i do. again, i'd like others thoughts/advice and input on this. i'll try to follow this thread and assist/comment back to those who are helping/trying to help me. yes, there are several die cracks on this coin...front and back...as well as the obvious cuds on the obverse. supposedly it is a scarce to very scarce coin in MS63-MS64. there is actually a lot of original mint luster on both sides and there is no evidence of any kind of cleaning having been done to it. well, on with the pictures:

 

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why not by the die? what might the post strike damage be? in-hand, it does not look like someone or anyone has just tried to chip the 4 missing stars away. what explains the cuds and the cracks in the coin? thanks for the post! all i'm seeking here is the truth and trying my best to figure out where this coin fits into things.

 

What about a crude necklace job ?

As it seems to be on the same spot on the coin

Siggi

 

My opinion, solder damage. This was in a piece of jewelry of some type and removed.

 

There also seems to be damage on the surface of the coin (3 different spots) to the east of liberty's arm. One of them seems pretty deep.

 

I don't think there is any doubt that this is PMD... For example on the bottom star near where Liberty is seated the star looks like it has been smeared as well as the fact the reverse is not effected at all... I'm afraid this is but another Beautiful coin butchered just to be a piece of jewelry...

 

thanks for the comments. PMD seems possible and so i will just let this thread sit here for now. no one is saying the lateral cracks in the coin itself (across the mid section obv...there are more cracks on it than are visible with the pics...for instance at around 11am obv runs a crack from the edge at least a 1/4 inch toward center) are PMD are they? this coin does lay flat. it is not bent, but fwiw the actual major lateral cracks on the obv do run all the way from rim to rim excluding Liberty exccept for her leftside wrist. anyway...someday i may show it to some others in person perhaps and in the meantime...picking up a stereoscopic microscope seems like a good thing to do for my own education, understanding and apprecaition of Numismatics.

 

Looks like a jewelry coin. Such a shame :-(

 

There may in fact be die cracks and other minting errors on this coin but the fact is that no amount of errors can save this coin. At least in my opinion. I am no expert by any means at all so there don't take my word for it. But really in my honest opinion this coin is too far gone to be worth anything than maybe a dollar or two above melt, possibly three. Sorry man, hope you didn't pay too much for this coin. :bigeyes:
:kewl:

 

no, i didn't pay lots for it. it was listed as an 1872 (plain not an S). even if some think it is worth basically nothin but a little over melt, i still find this to be a very interesting coin. high MS grade (excluding the obvs star damage), uneven strike on the obverse (only about two stars are fully struck - the ones around 2 o'clock - all the rest are actually understruck to some degree), many cracks on this coin (none listed anywhere else that i know of for the 1872 S), and IF it was not PDM'd it sure would be one heck of nice coin to own. eh, it's a tough coin to get in a higher grade state. i'm just fine with what i've got. good coin to learn from regardless. i'll continue to do that.