1856 date. Central detail is a stone cold XF45. Outer rims are AG03. It's not bent or cleaned or scratched or anything! I paid $41. The dark spot on the reverse is a shallow mark or hit as best I can tell. But maybe I'm wrong. Assuming it straight-grades, what do you call it? It's going to NGC, economy grading. We'll all learn something from this one.
Very carefully? I was at a coin shop a few weeks ago and a guy came in wanting to sell one and asked "do you buy Jewish coins?" I had to hold the laughter in but I could obviously understand why he thought that.
I'd be inclined to punt here. The coin has clearly had some unusual experiences in its lifetime, based on the wear and surfaces. Split the difference and call it F or VG details.
I'm in the EF camp as well. The shield exhibits little wear - and neither do the reverse devices. If it were actually worn (and not a striking issue), the central areas would show more wear. I suspect, however, that the graders will net grade a bit (that is, silently knock the grade down a couple of pegs) for the strike.
These 3 cent pieces just get me laughing, I would have hated being around in a time when this was used. They are so small and fragile looking. Regarding your coin I would say its around a VG on the worse end due to the lack of detail around the outer edges, but then again it does have some great detail to it anyways so possibly an F12. I hope I am wrong and you get a better grade though.
Well I'll tell you a little secret .......it's a rpd look at the 1,most 1856 are full strikes ,however this one must have been somewhat soft . I'm on board with more a strike issues then wear.
$20 economy grading in an order with some Morgans and other coins. So I'll be into it $61 or so. If it grades XF it's a $100+ coin. If it's a new RPD then who knows what it's worth. If it's F12 then I'll lose a few bucks. Who cares?!? We're all going to learn something and YOUR tuition is FREE!