Hi all! My question of the day is this: Today I was looking through some half rollstoday and found a roll of 1998P in mint condition. I would like opinions on whether I should keep these? I realize that they aren't rare, but is there anything to the fact that the entire roll is 98P? thank you for your thoughts JD
I have a book for Kennedy halfs that I'm trying to complete from cirulation...if you need it for a set keep it...if you don't need it don't keep it...keep in mind that when you find a coin in cirulation it is not Mint Condition any more--it would be AU. Speedy
Not necessarily. A coin is not Au until it shows signs of wear - whether it's found in circulation or not.
To further complicate matters... I have seen BU coins which most certainly exhibited wear - and were slabbed as MS. What do you do when you have a Morgan Dollar for instance that shows signs of having gone through a counting machine (wear) but has an otherwise outstanding surface absent of marks, awesome eye appeal and a strong strike? Do you call it AU on a technicallity or do you overlook the "wear" and assign an appropriate MS grade? I for one assign an appropriate MS grade and price.
To me - if it shows wear it's AU, no matter how nice the rest of the coin looks. But I'll readily agree I have seen coins in MS slabs that I didn't think deserved to be there.
It's a tough call. My grandfather used to follow the same logic and call the coins AU and price them as if they were BU. Many customers would pay the price, recognizing the coin may have just had (as in the example I illustrated) marks from a counting machine. However, there were always those that loved the coin and realized how outstanding it was for an "AU" grade, but did not want to pay the price!
Well...as with Silver Eagles they say that the onlu place where they should show marks from the counting machine is on Lady Liberty about half way up her dress...and on the back on the eagle so I could see calling that BU even if there were marks there BUT when you find a coin in cirulation (maybe I'm getting too tight on my grading) it seems to me no matter how long its been in cirulation it is curulated... True--you can find a coin that has the cartwheel look with luster and light....and I guess many would call that BU....because I have seen coins pulled from a BU roll that has many marks and not much luster... I guess it would depend on who is grading the coin and how much they know about the coin. I rest at ya'lls call....you may find a coin in cirulation that is a true BU coin!! Speedy
I've seen quite a few AU58 coins that I'd pay more for than I would for many MS62/63 coins. It just depends. But not everybody is like me - thank God
I agree 100% with GDJMSP--- Wear = AU. That's elementary to coin grading. There is no debating that fact, in my mind. But to answer your question, I would keep any high grade MS Half you pull from a roll. Over the years, I have seen a few halves that look like that were cut out of the cellophane of a mint set and meticulously place in to a circulated roll. For the 50 cents it will cost you, its worth pulling.
Wow! You guys have multiple opinions on AU/MS grading, and you know infinitely more than a rank amateur like me does or probably ever will. This is why I can't bring myself to pay large premiums for coins. And although I intellectually understand why an MS 63 is worth more than an AU because of the additional rarity, on a more practical level I can't help thinking that the spreads between grades are too high for many coins these days. For the same price, I'd rather have two nice looking AUs than one MS because quantity has a certain quality of its own.
After you spend some time in the hobby, you will learn what you like and don'tlike. Some people collect circulated coinage because they like to think about all the stories that coin could tell. Some prefer MS for the rarity and original look. My uncle prefers circulated morgans but I like MS. We both enjoy the same set but different condition.
So as not to really confuse this topic, GDJMSP is 100% dead on when he states that any coin showing wear is no longer a BU example. From a technical perspective, wear knocks the coin down to AU status, without exception. That does not however mean that a coin which has seen circulation is automatically AU, like was mentioned, it has to show wear before it gets downgraded. Think about it, do you really think all of the BU Morgan Dollars on the market today went directly from the mint to collections? Most certainly not. Further, in today's coin market grade defines the price and market for a coin. In many cases, collectors will simply refuse to buy the coin and not the holder. I believe this is why you will see top grading companies such as PCGS and NGC slab a coin with VERY MINOR and ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLE signs of wear such as those from a pass through a counting machine as an MS60 - MS64 (in rare cases). It should be noted though, that you will often see coins in holders that show obvious wear and SHOULD NOT BE grade as MS anything. Its a tough call.
The '98-P half has very little premium in typical unc. Most of these look pretty bad and if there are any attractive coins in the bunch I'd save them. Just get rid of the ones that are banged up and/ or are bad strikes. If you collect them and they are typical just save the best one.
This is sort of similar (in reverse) to the issue of proof coins. Whereas a proof is a proof is a proof, no matter how worn or damnaged, and UNC coin is UNC no matter wher you fond it. Uncirculated is a grade, not a description. If a coin shows no wear, it is graded Unc. (or MS60 or above). I understand how some people consider Uncirculated to be a description of where the coin has been, but when the coin is graded that becomes irrelevent. Or, to put it another way, if you buy an Unc. coin from the Mint and then trade it to a fellow collector, doesn't it also become "circulated" in the same sense?
