Believe it or not...I found these three in a bank roll

Just taking a peek through some rolls of halves I pulled from bank rolls a few years back. Yes, that's right...somehow this one survived SO MANY opportunities to get cherrypicked/damaged. Completely forgot how gorgeous this one was...I don't see clad Kennedy halves with this type of toning all that often. Not too many major distracting marks, pretty clean obverse fields...which leads me to my questions:

What do you think this would grade (if it was sent to NGC/PCGS)? Not really worth sending in (in terms of cost) unless it goes 66 or higher, and as long as the grader isn't on the "today, all toning is artificial toning" part of the AT/NT grading coin flip.

What do you think is going on at 1 o'clock (obverse) and 5 o'clock (reverse)? There is a weakness in the rim, almost like a clip would look, but without the actual clip...

As always, thanks for your opinions...and enjoy!



EDIT: I just looked through the rest of the roll, and I have a similar 1978 D that I'll image and add to the post. Came from the same box, if I remember....although this one has a few distracting marks (looks like it could have been through a coin counter...)

Here it is:



EDIT: Here's the last one from this roll with similar toning...although this one isn't quite as nice as the first two:

 

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Nice! I especially like the 74. They all look AU or so. Am I right? I'd probably keep them if I found them.

 

In hand, the only one that looks AU is the 77 d...the 74 looks like it's been in a paper album (like Library of Coins or Wayte Raymond) all its life, and the 78 d, save for that nasty scratch on his cheek, looks UNC as well.

 

Nice. I wasn't sure because Kennedy's hairline was so weak on the 74. Yet another lesson on grading from photographs.

 

Here are a few more from that tube (just for fun). The 1998, 1999, and 2011 are super, super PL.

 

Yeah, there is hardly any detail in his hair. Mushy stars on the reverse as well...must have been super worn dies or a weak strike.

 

Those are real nice coins. I'd be happy to have them.

 

1974 looks 65+. The strike is weak, and there are enough tickmarks to keep it from 66.

The 78D is 64, tops. The scrape on his cheek kills the grade.

The 77D looks AU-58+. This is the only one that I see wear on.

 

Kennedy PLs are known in 1985, but they don't become common until later in the 80s. The late 90's are quite commonly found PL, and the 2010's are very common. This evolution comes about as a result of changing mint technology - modern dies are chrome plated and polished before being put into use. As you can imagine, this give a fantastic mirrored finish.

 

BTW...guess what I just got in the mail (for a late Christmas present)...will start reading this week

 

Sweet! Hope you enjoy it

 

My sister originally got me a USB microscope. Tried it out. Photo capture button didn't work, software didn't work, resolution was...mid 80's? Everything was written in a hodgepodge of English, Chinese, and some other made up language I think. She asked if it was working well, and I was a bit honest...so she got me your book and a Kuzy MBP case. Just got in yesterday.

 

Nice halves, Benjamin!

 

These are great, and all the toning looks natural to me. The ring around the outside of the coin, parallel to the rim, tells me the coins were in an album. As to the 1977-D, do I see some hairlines in the field, indicating cleaning? I hope not, but that's what the pic suggests to me.

 

The 77 d shows evidence of wear on the high points, but what you're seeing are die polish lines. Sometimes they are really good at picking up the light - take a look at the 78 d. There is what looks like a huge scratch behind kennedys bust - that's actually raised. Since it's only visible in hand under certain light angles, I had to look at it through a loupe.

 

Nice halves. Keepers for sure.

 

Thanks for clarifying that. I saw that and was wondering. I also see the hairlines on the obverse of the '77 and was thinking they were die polish lines.

Nice finds, btw.

What brand of USB did you get? I have a Dino-lite and have been happy with it.

 

She got me one of those where you have to look really hard just to figure out what brand it was...lol

 

I have a MAC and I'm looking for a camera to take pictures of my coins. Will the Dino-lite work to take pictures as good as these halves that are shown on this page? Great finds by the way. I would love to find some of these in my rolls. I have some rolls that I put away about 6-8 years ago. I guess it is time I got them out and looked for some goodies. Were yours bank rolls or customer rolls?