.....cleaned, somewhat harshly leaving hairlines. (a scarce variety, JR-1, R-4, second scarcest of the five 1825 varieties of Capped Bust dimes). I am greatly interested in hearing your opinions.
Yes sir I would. No question she has had some help with her shine. But then many coins from that era have been cleaned up at some point. Regardless the polishing job I believe she is quite attractive at $45.00.
I'm not into cleaned coins and I think this one has been harshly cleaned. I would save my money and wait for a better coin but that is me.
Couple questions. 10:00 on the obverse, is that a die break? And that blue line around the edge in the pics, could the pics be over contrasted making the coin appear brighter than it actually is?
I would say yes as well. That is indeed a cud near star 5. The Early United States Dimes book says that there is a crack along the denticles along the left side of the obverse that eventually progresses into a cud that reaches the outer point of star 5.
Personally, no, but I don’t study/buy this series and I would want a problem free example for my type set.
The coin has at least VF details and does not appear to have problems other than cleaning. PCGS Guide shows $250 for a VF20. I would say the discount is substantial even for harsh cleaning. Perhaps a candidate for flipping?
Thank you, all for your input. Much appreciated!. I am of two minds about this one. From the sellers pics it was clear it had been cleaned.That in itself I can tolerate, if done well. However, the cleaning was done badly and left the coin with hairlines. A beautiful and scarce coin to a large extent ruined. Actually I am being too drastic - the hairlines are mostly visible under direct. intense light, otherwise the appearance is quite good, (there is no denying the hairlines are there). I am thinking, though, that I will keep it due to the very low price (actually $44 inc. postage), and the fact it was struck in a late state of the obverse die. I have another 1825 JR-1 in an early state of the die, so this one serves the purpose to illustrate the die wear progression. Judicious natural re-toning (window sill) should improve the appearance.
Also Bust is hard to come by without damaging on it. Yes this probably had been clean, but doesn't look like harsh cleaning like others I have seen.
Higher grade capped Bust Dimes, specially the early type 1814-1828 are scarce for sure. This example's one redeeming quality is that it has a high level of detail.
@NSP I'd be interested in your opinion of the scarcity of 1825 JR-1, JR-3 and JR-5. The reason I'm asking is that some sources indicate that while JR 1 and JR-3 are both scarce (R-4), only JR-5 is rare at R-5. However, the new 4th.Ed Mega Red Book which focuses on Dimes specifically now lists all 3 at the same availability level (estimated population of 75 - 175 in circulated grades). Thanks!
Over time rare varieties tend to have their rarity drop. Especially for the rarer ones because those are the ones people search for. Then you have the fact that it takes finding a lot fewer coins to make an R-5 coin drop to R-4 than to make an R-4 drop to R-3
I would buy it. Yes it's cleaned but that is a rarity and it has nice detail. $45 is a low risk for what would otherwise be a $1k coin.
I don't collect dimes by die variety, so I would not buy it, but $45 is not much money for a better die variety that has been polished with this much detail. Vess1 summed it up pretty well.
The Early United States Dimes book claims that 1825 JR-1 is R4, 1825 JR-3 is R3, and 1825 JR-5 is R5. It’s worth noting that these estimates were made 35 years ago, so they are subject to variability. I haven’t looked into 1825’s too much, though from what I’ve read, JR-5 is probably more common than R5 (since more examples have turned up in the last 35 years). With that in mind, the Mega Red Book’s estimates are probably not too far out of line with reality. Probably the best way to think of them is that JR-2 and JR-4 are fairly common and JR-1, 3, and 5 are scarcer and worth keeping an eye out for at reasonable prices. All in all, 1825 doesn’t have a really tough die marriage (like how 1821 has JR-2 and 1829 has JR-10). That said, 1825 JR-4 does have a pretty spectacular obverse cud (even more so than the one on JR-1) that connects stars 8 through 11. That one is definitely worth keeping an eye out for! Edit: here is an image of the 1825 JR-4 obverse cud and a link talking about it. http://jr-newsletter.blogspot.com/2012/01/jr-newsletter-29-january-2012-73.html?m=1
Thank you, @NSP for the information and the link to the newsletter! very interesting. As you say, the Mega Red Book 4th Ed is probably more up-to-date concerning current rarity estimates. Conder also has it right when he says that rarity ratings mostly only go one way - down! Somehow I overlooked 1825 JR-4 and that spectacular cud. I will keep my eyes open for it, although I am guessing there are not too many of them around. The author of the JR-blog is extremely knowledgeable with regard to Bust Dimes. I actually obtained my 1824 JR-2 from him. His collection is just amazing. He co-authored the relatively recent Bust Dime Identification Guide. A great, concise little booklet for those interested in Bust Dimes. Do you have it? (I managed to lose my copy). Thank you again for your help, Eduard
I do not own the Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide, though I may get it in the future (if for no other reason than to see how it compares to the EUSD book).
