I picked up 3 bust halves recently and was looking for some feedback on the grades. The 1813 and 1822 look as though they may have been cleaned in the distant pass. The 1839-O is an odd one, as it looks to be VF judging by the shoulder clasp and sharp LIBERTY. But the rims don't appear to be too distinct. Is that a typical New Orleans weak strike? Pictures are linked because they're 1024 pixels wide. http://www.bangeman.us/coins/1813-obv.jpg http://www.bangeman.us/coins/1813-rev.jpg http://www.bangeman.us/coins/1822-obv.jpg http://www.bangeman.us/coins/1822-rev.jpg http://www.bangeman.us/coins/1839-o-obv.jpg http://www.bangeman.us/coins/1839-o-rev.jpg Even if the 1813 and 1822 were cleaned, I like them a lot because they both show some luster and some toning around the edges.
Some of the pics are a little blurry so it's hard to say for sure, but I'd say the first two are XF40/45. The O mint coin has good detail remaining and would grade VF20/25 based on that. But I don't know enough about the O mint coins to explain the lack of rim as being due to a weak strike. It would have to have been very weak I would think. But the nice detail in the hair seems to indicate it wasn't
The 1836-1839 bust halves were struck with a reeded edge so they must be graded a little differently than the previous issues. Because the rim on the reeded edge halves sits higher it was able to protect the coin's design elements from wear better than the lettered edge halves. Therefore you see heavy wear on the rim and less wear on the design than you would see on a lettered edge bustie that had seen the exact same number of "transactions". So I'd grade the 39O as a F15/VF20.
The first two look AU-50 or 53 to me -- they also look to have enough luster and original patina left to get slabbed by PCGS or NGC. The 39-O looks VF, and looks like a nice, original coin!
I'm not positive... that's why I posted the pics. If they were cleaned, it looks to be long, long ago.
