Hey all. I am wondering whether you think this 1797 Liberty Cap Half Cent I just got would grade straight or not. The date is worn, but it can be identified by the presence of a raised "1" numeral just below Liberty's profile: the 1 above 1 overdate variety that was only produced in 1797.
Certainly there is some corrosion and scratches, but in this low a grade, coins sometimes get a "pass", and it might get a straight PO01 grade. That being said, some of the scratches are rather egregious, showing orange copper underneath, which draws a bit more attention to them. I think it's kind of a moot point. People are accustomed to seeing early copper with "details" grades. And anything that's still collectible in such a low grade and/or poor state of preservation (as this certainly is), it's not going to matter much. It's still an early half cent, and as such, it's going to have people who are interested in it, regardless of whether it's straight-graded or not, or what the technical grade is. Would it win any beauty contests? Certainly not. But is it a cool, scarce piece of early copper? You bet. The only issue I see here is if somebody wants it for a lowball set and absolutely must have a straight PO01 TPG grade with no "details" notation. It might or might not get that.
I'm going to go with straight PO 1. Varying degrees of scratches occur in circulation so it's expected and considered when grading. The example you show may be a little bit more deliberate but I think it might just pass.
That’s not entirely true. It’s true that the date has to be identifiable, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be from reading the date. Some dates and mints in some series can be identified without necessairlly having a visible date.
