It is not very usual to find older U.S type coins at coin shows in Germany anymore. So I was surprised when a seller had these and others for sale recently. I picked out the ones which interested me the most, and was able to purchase the lot for approximately $ 150. I do not think any of them has been cleaned (besides the 1874 cent), or maybe just slightly dipped. The 1854 O half is intensely toned. The 1813 Half is low grade but it was very cheap, and the 1917 half is common but seems to be in real good shape. What do you all think? Thanks and regards, Eduard
Yes, you could not have bought that group for that price in the US. Weird isn't it? You always would think coins would be cheaper in the country where they were made, but I find I buy things like Thai coins and Chinese coins far cheaper in the US than I could ever buy them in their source country.
IDK the prices today, but I view that as having an old cleaning and retoning. Nothing wrong with that, most of these have old cleanings. That used to be $100 coin, its a type coin, a better type but the "type" value overrides the O mintmark value. Btw Eduard, did you know the arrows at the date of this issue were to denote a lowering of silver content? They did this because the California gold rush had destabilized the world price relationship between silver and gold, and US silver coins were worth over face value. So, in 1853 they lowered it, and put arrows on the obverse and rays around the eagle on the reverse. They took the rays off the reverse for 1854 but left the arrows. In 1873 we had to do the opposite. The Comstock lode had destabilized silver prices, so they increased the silver in coinage and also added arrows by the dates, (no rays though).
It's because coins are normally most heavily collected in their home country so demand is higher there. Higher local demand means higher prices in the home country. I'm surprised no one comments on the 1842-O quarter. OK it isn't the small date but it is still a very nice coin and frankly may be worth more than the 54-O half.
I wanted to thank everybody for your comments. Yes, I do think the toning on the 1854 O half does look a little too colourful to be natural. I am not sure but it does look like retoning after a dip. The others seem ok (besides the 1874 C which is too copper like - unnatural on a worn coin). As Conder says. the 1842 O quarter is quite nice. Not sure about the grade but VF 20 or so. So it seems I did OK for what I paid for this U.S coin lot, and I am happy with that. The best buys I got from this seller, however, where 2 Napoleon 1/2 francs, and an Charles I penny. One of the 1/2 francs is a rare year/mint combination, and according to the french catalogues alone worth about $ 400-500. I got the 3 for about $ 80. That really made my day!
