Hello all- My grandma has a really old silver dollar. She told me it was a 1813 silver dollar. I was really surprised because I didn't know she collected coins-it turns out she has a lot of older silver dollars-about a hundred, but that's a different story. I was really excited about the coin, and then I realized that there were no silver dollars minted in 1813-so I told her, and she looked at the papers she recorded her coins on and it turns out it's a 1838 silver dollar. I didn't see the silver dollar so I'm not sure what grade it is. She found the coin around 1965 and took it out of circulation. Let's just say it's average condition for a circulated coin taken out of circulation mid 1960s. Got an estimate? Bill
See http://www.bestcoin.com/early-half-dollars.htm - Look under Capped Bust Half Dollars 1807-1839 Regular Strikes The 1838 could be worth quite a lot.
In The Pcgs Price Guide Here , There Is No 1838 DATE IN REGARDING TO ONE SILVER DOLLAR, READ BELOW: PCGS PRICE GUIDE
The only US dollar coin that I can find minted with a date of 1838 is an extremely rare pattern coin that should never have been in circulation. It is quite valuable and if the coin is actually dated 1838 when you view it then you must get it authenticated by NGC or PCGS. As for yourquestion about the expected grade for a 1838 coin removed from circulation 130 years after it's striking, I imagine that the coin would be worn to a very low grade, but it may not have been in circulation all that time.
Right-I've been thinking about that same thing as well. I'm kind of in doubt that it was that year. I'm thinking that she probably got the dates mixed up when she looked at the paper. It's very possible that's what happened because she orginally told me it was a 1815 coin, and that's impossible. I never saw the coin myself-so I'm really not sure. I'll double check the date next time I'm with her. Thanks to all- Bill
