1917 T1 Standing Liberty Quarter

??? So what you are saying is, you can see the characteristics that I am pointing out are problems, but that means it's genuine?

At any rate, on the very off chance that it's real, it's still a big-time problem coin with all that "environmental damage" (not to mention all the vertical scratches on the left side). There is a very good reason why what should be a $100 coin only sold for $17.10, delivered.

 

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The eraser to Merc.

@1966
I'm saying some of the problems YOU see in the pics aren't problems when looking at the coin in hand. Liberty's foot is there, the date IS worn off at the top of the numbers, the drapery is not tattered. From the pictures it looks like rust on the coin but it is not. Now I did see the scratches on the left side like you said and that raised my doubts. YOU could be 100% right and I got suckered out of 17 bucks. I'm fairly new to coin collecting and that was my first coin purchase off of Ebay and will probably be my last. Like I said at the start of the post the picture on Ebay was blurry and I took a chance at it and won the auction. I hope it's the real deal.

 

I think it's real, I think it's just got some issues. Some work could probably be done to improve it, but I'd have to see the coin in hand to really judge that.

 

I'm talking about Liberty's left foot, which would be on your right. I can't see any sign of it in your picture, even blown up to a 9-inch diameter, except for maybe the big toe. In that condition, the entire foot (toes) should be visible.

The entire date on Type I coins gets flat very quickly. I don't see the characteristic flatness in the date of your coin that would be commensurate with its condition.

The breast area looks wrong. The breast itself looks recut, and the armpit area looks wrong.

At any rate, it's a big-time problem coin and I still have my doubts about its authenticity.

 

I was a little perplexed when I read that, because even blowing up the pictures of both my coin and the OP's coin to 9 inches in diameter did not distort the details-- on my desktop computer, that is. Both pictures were still very high resolution with intricate details easily seen-- without the aid of an imagination. However, when I looked at the pictures on my laptop, they both became little more than collections of pixels at 6 inches, let alone 9 inches. So the quality and visible detail of the pictures may depend on the type and/or capacity of the computer that is being used to view them.

 

Would it be fake if it passes the sound test? Sounds like silver to me. Did they make fakes out of silver?

 

Several years ago, I bought a Bust dollar from a trusted dealer I had known since high school who assured me that the coin had "original surfaces". I took her word for it and just kept it in a Whitman album for several years. But then I read an article about fake Bust dollars (especially about my date, 1799), and became concerned. So I took it out of the album to give it a sound test. It certainly *sounded* like silver. And the weight was right, too-- 26.96 grams, give or take .01 gram. But when I sent it in to be graded, guess what? Fake!

 

I can definitely see where you would think it's a fake by judging it from that first pic. It was taken at a slight angle and under florescent lights and zoomed in compared next to your 2 examples looks almost like it's made out of lead. In hand where you can rotate it and get a view of the whole coin you can clearly see a left foot and some toes. Now,,,since I think it's real and everybody all agrees it's a problem coin and quite ugly,,,if I were to clean or dip it,,,what would I use?

 

If you dip it or alter its surfaces in any way, there is no way to get a refund on it. Are you prepared to keep it, even if it is a fake?

 

I own the darn thing now. I can handle a 17 dollar mistake if it turns out to be a fake.

 

A lot of people here cringe at the thought of cleaning a coin, for any reason. Others think it's OK to dip a coin in a mild solution if the surfaces are in really bad shape. Since yours is a problem coin anyway, and you are going to keep it regardless, I personally don't see anything wrong with dipping it for a very few seconds in a weak coin cleaning solution like E-Z-Est (Jeweluster), then rinsing it thoroughly in distilled water. Others in this forum may disagree with me, though.

 

For 17 bucks you did well. I can't tell if it's authentic from the photos but I doubt it's fake, if for no other reason than there's not a lot of money to be made in faking coins that retail for under $100, and then when you add in the toning, the enviro damage and the nicks on the rim on top of it, I say there's a small likelyhood it's a fake, on most chinese fakes the artificial toning looks 'too perfect' and they don't go to the trouble to add all the little imperfections I see on that coin.

Don't clean it.

 

They make fakes out of everything...including silver. Why not? They can take $7.50 in silver and turn it into a $100 coin and have the weight right. There's a profit there.

I personally don't know enough about this series to be able to judge it's authenticity. However, I do see what C1966 is pointing out and I also have concerns.

 

I think I will dip this coin sometime in the near future. I'm prepared to suffer the consequences from all the collectors out there that say "never clean a coin". I was able to get this coin for 17 bucks in the condition that it is in. I think that after it's dipped and if it turns out to be REAL it will only increase the value, even though it's a cleaned coin. After it's dipped I will post new pics of it and then we all can compare the before and after photos and start the real/fake debate all over again.

 

Don't dip it yourself without prior experience, its highly likely you will turn it into a cull.

I'd be willing to take a look at it, and dip it if it will improve the coin, free of charge.

 

I appreciate the offer Merc. I've got a collector here in town that I will probably go to when the dipping is done.

 

The annual fall coin show will be going on here in a few weeks. I'm gonna take this coin and let the more experienced collectors give me their 2 cents about it.

 

In the meantime, you can compare these side-by-side detail pics. Pay particular attention to the date, the position of the first and second stars from the bottom on the left side, the toes on Liberty's left foot, the date, and the drapery around Liberty's right leg and foot. Also, compare the field around the stars.

 

Here's another side-by-side comparison. Pay particular attention to the breast and armpit areas.

 

One more side-by-side comparison: