I'm a newbie going through a stash of older coins that I'd forgotten about, nothing particularly collectible, mostly quarters, some half-dollars, from the silver era, 1940s-1960s. But I was emptying out a roll of half-dollars, mostly Kennedys, and suddenly saw something totally different: 1938! I'd never seen one before. I don't have a coin book, but when I looked online, I figured it's something called a Capped Bust. Is it worth anything substantially more than the Liberties, Franklins and Kennedys? It's not in good condition, though. Everything is legible, but hardly any relief left and none of the ridging around the rim. And, no, sorry, I'm not able to post a picture. (By the way, I'm still looking unsuccessfully for a vendor or local club in New York City.)
Does it have a mint mark of O on it (which I doubt, only 20 were minted I think if I recall correctly)? If so, it's a key date/mint. If no mint mark, from what you described it's in probably AG - G condition, which could fetch anywhere between 30-70 bucks according to book value.
Where are you in NYC? There are oplenty of dealers in Manhattan, one is two blocks south of Penn Station. Clubs? There is one in Staten Island. Another in Nassau County.
Do you have a scanner? Or access to a local library? Before I got a camera I use to take my things there and they'd scan them for me no trouble. They were more curious about the item then anything.
Your title says 1838, but you said 1938 in your comment. I hope it's an 1838! edit: i see you say capped bust. Show us that baby!
Thanks for the replies! Rodeoclown, I'd be thrilled with $70, but I fear to get my hopes up. Yes, Treashunt, there are some dealers listed in the telephone books, but some of the them have disappeared, some were rude over the phone, some seem to be paying very little, and some are too inconveniently located. I ended up trying a few in the jewelry district. Who/where exactly is the one two blocks south of Penn? That would certainly be convenient. DMott, thanks for the intriguing idea. I don't have a scanner (I'm very low-tech), but it never occurred to me to ask a library. I'll try that and see what they say.
I'm pretty sure that you know someone with a cell phone or digital camera who could snap a pic for you. If they didn't have the minute or two it takes to post on CT, they could email it to you and then you could post. Nothing "hi-tech" about that!
Yes, JLoring, I do know people with a cell or digital camera - but I ask for tech favors when they have some urgency, not whenever I run across a stray coin! Plus which, now that I think of it, the last time someone obliged with a cell, the image was such poor quality that it wouldn't have helped anyone here.
A picture would help a lot. After all, there's a world of difference in value between a coin in beat-to-heck condition and a BU one. There are many people on this board who can grade capped bust halves, and several more who can spot counterfeits (or anything hinky) even if you took a picture of the coin using a polaroid camera, copied that with a ditto machine, and then scanned that with the DPI set as low as it would go. I've had the best luck using a scanner and setting it for 300 DPI (or 600 DPI for really tiny coins). Btw, I recently bought my first capped bust for my type set and spent about $50 for it (not a key date or anything). I think they're wonderful coins & wish I had the budget to buy more!
