I just got outbid on a very nice Large Cent that I wanted badly. But someone with greater means wanted it too and employed the same strategy I used. Here is an outstanding unattributed 1797 S-143 R5- which should easily make a top ten condition census, even with it's rough spots and surface problems. I was having trouble figuring out what the Details grade should be and how much to deduct to come up with a net grade. I came up with PCGS AU Details and EAC XF40/ net VF25. Anybody else care to critique my evaluation? I was having a problem because one advertised as XF45 and the finest known also had a week strike so lower graded examples actually looked sharper. The problem was compounded by the slight oif center strike which affected the strike at the obverse bottom (5 O'Clock) and reverse top (12 O' Clock). I suspect there is a slight rotation of the reverse based on the positions of the off center strike. Please chime in with any thoughts.
For the un-educated (and lazy like me) would you care to reveal the hammer price? Also, what should a top 10 condition census S-143 be valued at?? I am not a collector of such coins (I like mine to be problem free) and really haven't a clue what this specimen should be valued at.
I bid on this one too, but I never attributed it, especially after it got above $200. Its rarity explains the high ending price. I really wanted a VF/EF/AU details type 1 harstyle cent (preferably 1797) like this one for my type set.
Hammer price was $787 and I set the price with a $777 bid. I actually went a bit more than I could afford and would had to have sold some silver rounds to get the cash. I saw similar examples go for between $1200 and $3500 which is why I was struggling to figure out why the spread was so significant. But there are only about a dozen comps and each has unique attributes, Some are less detailed, yet in better condition and others have problems, but different ones than this. But the buyer got a good buy and probably knew of it's attribution, but not necessarily. FYI The EAC XF-45 sold for 25K and another one in VF30 sold for 8K but was sold again a few years later as XF40/net VF25 for $5.3K. F-12 sold for $2530. ANother F12 sold for $1600. An XF40/net F12-15 sold for $1300. A VF details sold for $1265. But VG8 sells for $400. AG for $250.
Nice coin, definitely S-143, but i don't think it would make the top ten although it wouldn't miss by much. I'm not seeing enough reverse detail for me to callit AU sharpness, even if i did it would only be a 50. There is a fair amount of obv roughness and a lot of pitting on the rev and possibly some rim damage above TED. I would be hard pressed to net it as a 20 coin and would feel more comfortable with a 15. It might look better in hand.
Difficult to judge too much from those pictures, but from what I can see net 25 is a little too high, I would have graded this net 20 to 15. Still, a nice example, and quite scarce. If I had been going after it (which I was not), I would have set a higher bid in order to secure it. A brief comparison with sold examples shows comparative examples have sold for approximately 1,5 X + what this one went for. The high bidder got a decent example for a very decent price, in my opinion. Sorry you did not get it, Marshall! BTW - I am no competition for you guys on these dates. My sights are set more on expanding my small set of '94's. PS- are there any better pictures of this coin somewhere one can look at?
I'd be comfortable with XF40/Net F15 assuming roughness and probable cleaning. That color could be just poor lighting, but may indicate it's recolored. I'm not too disappointed because I went way over my budget on my bid and would have been forced to scrape up the difference. I've got my fourth S-195 coming in soon and just received my S-141 with F Details. My interest is still on the S-78 struck on a TAL token, but I may be the only one who sees it. Heritage suggested PCGS or NGC who can't even figure out the difference between a Reverse of 94 and a Reverse of 97. They would be no good for something this subtle. I need more expertise than I can afford. Even if I could prove it, I'm not sure how much it would be worth in that low of a grade. The only thing I have going for me is the weight at 149 grains.
