This is my 1936 S Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar. I got it for christmas from my father last year, who bought it at a coin shop we occasionally visit. I am thinking about sending it in to NGC to get graded. I think it is a high AU or low MS. I don't see any signs showing it has been cleaned. LouieLot PS I am still learning how to take pictures so bear with me. Is there a good thread on this forum on taking pictures?
first of all, excellent gift from your father. Your pictures a on the small side, the reverse seems to have a natural surface to it whereas the obverse seems to have a dull/flat surface to it. But that could just be the pictures. nice coin though!
Nice coin. Excellent gift. I'm still looking for one of those. Must be 10-12 varieties (date/mm). But I find them all overpriced on eBay. The Texas commem halves are the same way. Eventually I'll bump into one at the right price, probably at a show.
Thanks for all the replies, Does anybody have a suggestion for grading company for getting this coin graded. I love NGC, but realize some coins NGC grades better and some coins PCGS grades better. LouieLot
Grade and Worth Slabbing? I really want to get this graded. This is one of my favorite coins too. Anybody have a guess on what grade it is? Hope these pictures are ok. LouieLot
Louie that is a remarkably clean coin ! Other than a couple small marks on the rims I can see only two contact marks on the entire coin and one of them is very minor. But I have to ask about the luster. Is your picture a scan ? That could account for what looks like little or no luster on the coin. Of course if the coin had been over-dipped that would acount for it too. So it's hard to estimate a grade on this coin without knowing the status of the luster.
The coin has decent luster, from my knowledge it has not been cleaned. It has toned a little though. I took the picture in bad light, it is a dark rainy day here in St. Louis. Also a local dealer told me it has not been cleaned.
Louie the term clean in the context I used it means mark free. My only question is not if the coin has been dipped or not, I have little doubt it has bene dipped. My question is if it has been over-dipped thus destroying most of the luster. Now you say it has decent luster, and perhaps it does. But the pics do not show that. And your question is if you should get the coin graded or not. Well, the quality of luster is what determines the answer to that question. And based on what I can see, I would have to say no, it is not worth getting the coin graded. I suspect that if you got the coin graded it would either come back in a low MS slab or a Genuine slab. And neither of those would be worth the cost.
So I took it to the coin shop I go to now, and talked to probably the most knowledgeable coin person in St. Louis. He said it was dipped but not too much, and said it has about 70% of its original luster. That being said he thinks NGC or PCGS would slab it at a MS 63. LouieLot
PCGS values the coin at MS63 at $200. I would say not to get it graded, due to the possibility of the coin either coming back, like Doug said, genuine or even the coin coming in it a 62 or less.
