Help grading a Walking Liberty

Hi gang,
I was wondering if you would be willing to look at a Walking Liberty I have to help me learn how to grade them.

I'm using this webpage for condition reference: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/walking-liberty-half-dollars-grade-768277

Photo of 1943, obverse and reverse, are attached.

I'm thinking MS65. Obverse: The skirt lines are sharp, as is the head and breast. MS65 says "a few small blemishes or minute nicks or contact marks on the surface of the coin." That seems accurate for this coin. The reverse: the eagle feathers below the neck are nice and detailed. But it is also on the MS63 coin. But MS63 says "Many contact marks, bag marks, and hairline scratches are visible without magnification". I don't see that on this coin.
Luster seems complete. Basically I don't see any wear.

The seller called this "choice gem BU".

I hope it’s at least uncirculated! Is there any wear that would indicate it is not?


Your opinion would mean a lot to me.

Thanks much,

Rick

 

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The right obv field looks too marked up to be a 65. That's the crucial area on these. Also the sun (looks unmarked) the outstretched arm (looks good) and the left leg ( a few marks). There is also 1 distracting mark right on the center of the eagle's breast (not as important, but looks pretty obvious). These are graded pretty tightly as they were released in rolls, not bags, so there are boatloads of them with minimal marks. I'm no expert but would say about MS63.

 

I see wear on the right wing feathers (eagle's left wing,actually). To me, the coin appears to have been altered.
Wait for other opinions.

 

I wish you could put an arrow where you mean. Can you be more specific? Do you mean the eagles right, first of all. And the section below its chest? Or above its head?

Also, who would bother altering such a cheapo coin?
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Thanks. I was thinking of downgrading it from MS65 due to my bias! So MS63 sounds good to me.

 

Hard photos to be extremely accurate, but too many hits, especially in the fields to be gem. I'm with 63 with what I can see.

 

I am not an expert in this series, but I would give it an MS61 or MS62. There is a mark above the sun, and especially in the fields in front of the central figure. Her dress seems to have a lot of chatter and seems a little bit weakly struck. There are lots of lines and I am not sure if they are die deterioration or whizzing. In my opinion, the images are edited to increase contrast and brightness.

 

I think they are from tired/worn obv die as they are in a radial direction. Whizzing usually yields a faux luster and a thin outline of built up metal next to the devices. I don't think it's been whizzed, although someone with more experience may correct me.

 

It can't grade any higher than MS-63 because of the big mark in the right obverse field. Given the many marks on the body, it might be an MS-62. The photos are a bite overexposed which can hide marks.

This a common date. These coins were saved by the roll. Finding another one, even in the same grade, without that distraction is not a problem.

 

That's a nasty spot on the obverse above IGWT. A 62, maybe a 63 at best.

 

Yeah, it is kinda nasty! Thanks everyone for your help. Learning a lot

 

The spot on the obverse I'd look for wear first is poorly lit to see it. Strike on a 1943 is usually really good, so this either has a little wear or is poorly struck. 63 tops.

 

For what it's worth, Ron Gillis from the ANA grading course says the following when I sent him photos of this coin:
"The 1943 does not look like it suffers from a weak strike but there are some detractors going on. There are many small hits in the focal are of her left leg and there are also some detractors in the field behind Lady Liberty. The reverse looks pretty good. I can’t determine the luster but if it is fully lustrous, I am at a 64 on this coin on a good day."

It looks fully lustrous to me, but I'm no expert! I'm not even a novice!

 

You probably know better than I do, but I circled the region that led to me making that comment. At first I thought they were just normal flow lines, which they may still be. In the field above the sun I see lines in two different directions. I haven't really noticed that on worn dies but I could be mistaken. In addition to circling the area I placed two arrows indicating the two different directions I saw lines going in.

 

I see what you are indicating. Since the "flow lines" are the result of stress and pressure on the dies from striking thousands of coins, I would expect that the incuse devices in the die would have local effects on the amount/appearance of the die wear in the near vicinity. This could (imo) account for the different directions of the lines that you point out.

 

Is anyone familiar with this book?
Collecting and Investing Strategies for Walking Liberty Half Dollars by Jeff Ambio?

 

Here's another Walking Liberty I would appreciate some help grading. 1941-D.
Thanks

 

This one on ebay is graded MS64. Really? Mark in the field behind Liberty. Feathers of eagle look worn.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1942-S-Wal...335469?hash=item5b6473d02d:g:z6QAAOSwYXVY0KN9
Thoughts?

 

Sorry but I'm one of the many that don't do links. Can you post photos?

 

I'm not having any luck saving the ebay image so I can upload it here