First, a disclaimer...this isn't a coin, but I saw it on e-bay where a customer complained it was sold as Unc. Would anyone consider it Unc.?
Unc details, maybe. Something is wrong with the surface, but I can't tell exactly what from the pics.
It ain't a coin? What is it? And like 'Paddy' mentioned above, it looks to be a bit of drunkin' revere........
raised uneven grainular surface in all the fields as well as bubbling on the tail feathers and flowers on the obverse... Maybe it's just the pictures but that screams casting to me and having spent 4 years working in a foundary doing lost wax casting this is what a poor unpolished casting looked like from experence
to be 100% sure I would have to have it in hand, but I will say the bubbleing could be pitting from ED and what looks like a raised surface could be bag dings... but if you look at the reverse field just to the right of the wings there are several y shaped "extrusions" in that granular blob... this is a commonly seen flaw seen in the casting process, caused by poor wax absorbesion (sp) of the casting medium (usualy because of poor prep) The more i look at the pictures the more I'm sure it's a casting...
The toning I see, and the "cleaner" areas around some of the devices, suggests to me that this was struck, perhaps from a damaged (counterfeit?) die.
As a counterfeit I would say that that looks UNC. Cast dies don't give you much room to polish and prep them correctly.
He'll have to answer for himself, but I believe he's talking the fact that "it" has a ton of wear on it and therefore isn't anywhere near unc ! Which of course is also why the customer who bought it complained to begin with.
Just looking on e-bay and I often look to see why buyers give sellers less than 5-star ratings. Saw this one and the posted picture was claimed "uncirculated", but I didn't think anyone looking at it would com up with "uncirculated", though I was just wondering if it were just me...
Counterfeit. The mint mark does not match up with what I’ve seen other 1881-S dollars. It looks like the little mint marks on the 1921-S.
