This coin has been in the family for over 70 years and I thought it was lost60 years ago. VIOLA! My sister had it stored away and forgot about it until DEC. 2009. I finally was able to bring it back with me from Florida a week ago. BOY!! That humidity plays havoc with coins down there. I'm so biased about this coin that I cannot objectively grade it so I need you all to help bring me back down to earth. Thank You Very Much. The coin's edge reeding is like new. zeke.
I agree. It is circulated. I would say EF-40 tops. And the coin certainly appears to have been cleaned. Was it a pocket piece?
OH WOW!! Cleaned, no way. To my knowledge it has always been stored away in a small strong box or in tissue or plastic wrap. When I found it at my sister's it was in a sandwich baggie. They had kept it in a bank SDB for years before that. Yes I did handle it as a teenager but never put it my pocket because it was one of the favorite coins my mother kept. That's all I know. Detailed??? For what?? It is a worn commemorative coin, that's all. I don't see anything on it that should cause it to be detailed. Please explain. Thanks zeke
considering the wear on the eagles feathers and breast plus w/ the face area nicks I would say AU tops mabye choice EX...as for cleaning the darker regions around the rims and whitish-washed out look on the bust and eagle are warning lights...its possible that it circulated for a year or two and was then pulled and cleaned harshly...sry for the disappoint (but esp. that dark ring of toning around the rim) I would say its cleaned (only one persons opinion)
It looks XF45 and lightly cleaned to me. That doesn't mean anyone in your family cleaned it - there is no way to know when that was done. I hope you will enjoy it and not worry about the grade or anything else.
I'd say XF is a fair assessment and yeah it does look like someone cleaned or wiped it once upon a time, but it is still pretty cool.
+1 Just because you never cleaned it it's almost 100 years old. It could have been cleaned 80 years ago before your family got it. I say the light cleaning/details is because of the color and pattern of the toning. Plus it looks like possible hairlinnes in the fields running from the bottom right to the top left. On something like this the grade doesn't matter one bit. It was in your family and it could be utter rubbish and I'd still love it (which it isn't). It's still a pretty coin.
A big THANKS to everyone for bringing me back to reality about this coin. It is like finding a long lost friend. I see everything that you mentioned. To have it back in my possession is just so good. I could blah, blah, blah about it but enough is enough. No tears of sadness shed but maybe one or two happy ones. THANKS! zeke
I see hairlines right of the bust of Lincoln... I would say xf40 details a beautiful coin eitheir way and amazing to find after 60 years
I agree with the others, looks like a great XF Illinois Half. Love the look of it, thanks for posting it!
