Post your SEATED coins.

New purchase awaiting arrival. Sellers photos
1875 Seated Dime

 

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It's been a while since I've posted here. I'm beginning to slab my better SLHs these days, so I'll show some of my latest SLH submissions to PCGS here.

1874-S WB4 (R8) PCGS F15. There are currently 2 known and one graded. Bill Bugert called the WB4 a "super-rarity" after he and Randy Wiley had searched about 20 years for a second example (Bugert, 2009). I found this coin on eBay and had it in my SDB for many years before identifying it to die marriage. What a nice surprise that was.



1874-CC WB1 (R6) PCGS G6



1843 WB35 (R3) PCGS EF45

 

More Seated halves...

1840-(O) WB4 (R3) PCGS VF20



1846 WB11 (Tall Date) (R3) PCGS VF25 - this was part of a two-coin lot on eBay for 'peanuts'. The other coin was an original, Fine 1853-O 25C.



1845-O WB13 (R6) PCGS VF25 - a nice surprise discovery while attributing DMs in my collection. The reverse has interesting iridescent blue toning that the Trueview captures pretty well.

 

A few more....

1842 WB8 Medium Date (R3) PCGS EF40 - looks like an EF45-AU50 to me with its strong strike.



1843 WB12 (R3) PCGS VF35 - one of my first SLHs that got me to drop Barber halves (too hard to find raw original examples) and work on a SLH collection.

 

Some others I haven't shown here....

An 1848 VF35 CAC - a surprisingly tough date, from Gerry Fortin



1849 WB10 (R3) EF45/40 CAC - originally in an EF45 CAC green holder but the holder was crushed by postal equipment. I call this the "Immaculate Compression" because the coin survived totally unscathed. It was resubmitted to PCGS and CAC and came back properly graded as EF40 CAC green. PCGS was undergoing some necessary grade tightening at that time, IMO. Trueview decided the obverse needed to be darker than it is in hand.

 

Here are a few others that I purchased in TPG holders...

1858 WB? PCGS EF45+ CAC - Crusty.



1881 WB? PCGS VG10 CAC - a beautiful low grade, low mintage SLH.



1851 WB6 PCGS VF35 - the Alpha coin of my SLH collection so far. A candidate for a green sticker unless CAC feels this is a VF30 that got bumped up too high for its eye appeal. IMO, it's an "A" coin regardless of the grade. It will be interesting to see how CAC judges this coin.

 

I couldn’t agree more. This is exactly the grade and look I seek out when I try to add to my type set. These are stunning coins, thank you for sharing them. I absolutely love the eagle on these and the quarters. The with rays only makes them better. I’ve stopped chasing US coins for a while, but I’m impressed with your collection and knowledge on these. Thank you for letting me live/learn through your efforts.

 

Liberty Seated coinage is one of my favorite series. I'd really like to enlarge my collection of this stuff and am hoping to find some contacts at the FUN show this January.

I've several old purchases I'll try to post: mainly bought before the numerical slabbing days. Here's an 1859 Seated 50 cents that I think is at least a ms-63 or 64 purchased for $65.



Liberty Seated 50 cents, 1859, unc ms 63 or 64, $65, purchased 2009.

It has nice original blueish toning with unfortunately some old fingerprints. This is actually a transitional issue so the planchlet has some roughness prior to striking as they didn't quite have their act together at the time. They were coming out of the "Moneda Feble" (weak money) episode of greatly debased minor coinage at the time. LIMA mint as you can see, 9 DEC{IMOS} FINO = .750 fineness.

 

I wanted to clarify something I mentioned above and add a fun tidbit. I first recognized the 1874-S WB4 from seller's photos on my computer. That prompted me to retrieve my Seated Liberty halves Dansco album to examine this coin further and attribute other coins in my collection.

Once home, I set up my stereoscope, opened my SLH Dansco and took a quick peak at the top row of coins on one of the pages. The first coin I saw had a strong overdate with a doubled "85." "What the heck is this?!", I thought, so I looked at the label. Turns out it was a VF35 very early die state 1855/854 in my 1855 'normal date' slot. I already had a late die state 55/54 in a TPG holder, but never realized how dramatic EDS 55/54s are. This photo is from PCGS Coin Facts to show what EDS 55/54s look like.



I clearly recall receiving the coin years before and putting it in my album without ever examining it, even with a hand lens. Knowing that I'd paid $150 for this coin as an 1855 normal date, the discovery really kick-started my interest in die marriage collecting and cherry picking. I don't have a photo of this coin yet, but it'll be part of my next submission to PCGS.

Then, I didn't recognize my 1874-S WB4 because the seller had juiced the photo with red-brown color. I had posted photos of this coin in the CU forums several times as one of my nicer, more colorful SLHs and had come to believe the coin was richly toned. I had to compare the gray coin in hand with the juiced photos to be sure it was the same coin.

There was some reasonable skepticism that I'd mistaken the very similar WB3 for a WB4, so I submitted the coin for grading and attribution along with an 1874-S WB3 to facilitate attribution. PCGS confirmed the WB3 and WB4. However, Trueview also juiced the photo with color, so I adjusted the color to more closely match the coin in hand.

 

Two quick comments.
First of all, "9 DEC FINO" = 0.900 fineness

Secondly, a MS63 example recently sold in a Stack's Bowers auction for a record $900, so you did well at that price. I think you'll like the cataloguer's comments as well.

PERU. 50 Centavos, 1859-YB/Y. Lima Mint. PCGS MS-63., MS63 - PCGS Auction Prices

 

Thanks Barberian, you're completely correct on the fineness at 0.900. I even checked Platt's book The Coinage of Independent Peru, Vol VI Decimal Silver Coins, 1858-1935.

Thanks for the info on the Stack's piece: I had not realized that prices for these had risen. There were a number of transitional pieces issued during that time. I was meaning to pick up the others but haven't gotten to them yet.

Not to lose sight of our original objective but here is a very choice mint state Liberty Seated Dollar-type coin.


Guatemala, 1 Peso, 1894, unc, Liberty Seated

Also purchased before numerical slabbing of world coins became a thing.

I should also add that I've quite a few high grade (AU+) US Liberty Seated half-dollars commencing with an 1839 (also bought before any slabbing existed). I've been looking for an ms companion to that piece by the way but w/o drapery. None of these have been photoed yet.

It's very interesting to note that the early US became a role model for many Latin American countries and our coinage was widely imitated as they were happy to get away from portraits of the Spanish Kings after Independence.

 

Nice No Stars dime. Since we're on the subject of Seated Coinage, I always run into this issue. What's the technical grade on the 1837? It has a break in the toning on the leg & the left breast but the rest of the coin & the fields look very nice.

Of course we can't tell the surfaces too well from just a photo.

Now the grading companies seem to say that flatness on the leg is okay for an unc and the issue is strike.

The 1852 is clearly unc and a very nice piece.

 

Purchased this SLH a couple months back as an upgrade. Seller image first. Touched up photo? Will avoid this dealer in the future.