I'm continuing my self promise to layout the thinking which goes behind my next 10 purchases...no matter what. In fact, even if I've made a dumb mistake ...

No, this is not one of my mistakes.

This is about the curled base 2, 1827 Bust Half I just bought off ebay.

Raw.

Pretty chancy eh?

1. I was looking for an 1827 curled base 2. I've been avidly looking for an 1827 curled base 2 for months now, actually, maybe even a year. They just don't show up. Period.

On screen the coin 'looked' good, except it had a rim ding, mentioned by the seller, and not bothersome to me, except for the fact that it might be rejected by the TPG. Also, whenever you buy a coin without seeing it in hand first, you stand the risk of it having an altered surface, no matter what the TPG, and a much higher risk if it's not one of the top two TPGs and also a much higher risk if it's raw.

2. This dealer had a return policy. This takes care of most of my concerns because I feel schooled enough through my mistakes and onward study, that I have confidence in my own in-hand assessment. There is a catch however, and that is I could still miss something (I'm not that well schooled) or the TPG could just disagree with me, in which case, it wouldn't end up in my registry set.

3. I would own this coin whether it was holdered or not. In other words, if you are afraid to buy something in a holder and even more afraid to take it out, don't buy it. I won this particular coin on ebay and was able to examine it in hand AFTER I paid for it, trusting my own judgement to keep the coin or return it. I kept it. I kept it knowing it could still be rejected because of the rim ding, and I also knew there could be some strange reason it would be rejected. Whatever the case, I decided it would be OK to keep this coin, and I'll explain my reasons why.

4. The rim ding was unobtrusive. At least for my eyes. And the generic equivalent of this statement would read: The 'defect' was unobtrusive. It didn't interefere with my sense of eye appeal.

5. The surfaces were pretty clean. And consistent with the XF or slightly higher category. Nothing appeared hidden beneath the toning. It was lackluster, and I suspect at one time it may have been dipped too long, thus disrupting the flow lines, but for the reasons which follow, I would go with it. (Let me say here that if I was looking at this coin as an AU or MS coin, it's being lackluster would have been a big negative, but I wasn't viewing it as such).

6. The strike was excellent. The stars had full centrils, the hair detail was very good, and the reverse eagle; it's beak, wings, legs and talons were well struck up. That's a major plus for Bust Halves in general. An added nicety, for which I was very happy.

7. The toning was perfect. In my mind at least. A natural appearing rich brown that fell very nicely between the strands of hair, in the cap and cap band and around the stars, accentuating their relief. The coin didn't have that 'racoon-like' appearance Busties often get as you decend the grade levels.

8. The edge was particularly exciting. So much so that I photographed it (before it was lost forever in third party plastic). If you're not familiar with pre-1836 Bust Half coinage, they have lettered edges (and from 1836 on they overlap and from there on they have reeded edges). The lettered edge usually reads "FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR", which this one did, but the OR overlapped the H, and there was a neat * incused after the word DOLLAR.

9. The grade was not an issue with me, except as I stated above, i.e., if I was wanting of an AU or MS, I would have expected more luster. I was not. It seemed like a very nice XF coin.

10. If it didn't grade by a TPG, I'd be happy to keep it raw.

Conclusion:

The coin graded AU50 at PCGS. Hooray! I can put it in my registry set! It was a grade I didn't expect. I must be missing something, but then again, I'm not a professional grader.

((edited to add: I have to say that I'm not crazy about it, but it will do))

1827curlob