Just Bob

There is a quick way to narrow down the Overton variety, which I use when trying to attribute Bust halves. As Sandon said above, the letters, numerals, and devices were punched separately into the working die, and each die has slightly different placement of these elements. That allows us to compare the relationship between elements and identify each die that was used, and which obverse die was paired with which reverse die. Check the alignment on the reverse of your coin of the "T" in "UNITED" with the "I" in "PLURIBUS." You will notice (if I am reading your picture correctly) that the left side of the vertical post of the two letters lines up almost exactly. If you compare the pictures of the varieties on the Variety Plus page - luckily, this year has only 10 die pairs - you will find that two varieties, O-110, and O-103, match this description. Moving to the left end of the ribbon, we see that the end of the ribbon on your coin lines up with the left side of the post of the "D." Since the ribbon on O-110 extends past that point, that leaves O-103 as the answer to your question. It isn't always this easy, since reverse dies were sometimes paired with multiple obverse dies, and vice versa. In these cases, you can use "star tip-to-denticle" relationships and other indicators, such as those noted above, to narrow down your choices. In the case of O-103, we know from studying the dies that obverse die 3 was paired with reverse die B, and this die marriage was the only use of either of these dies this year. Looking forward to seeing what else you have to post.

The OP's coin appears to be Overton-103.

This is true. When PCGS first started, an MS65 was a true gem. I remember ask price for 1880-S Morgans in MS65 being $800 and up. Back then, an MS67 was a wondercoin. I read an interview with someone who worked at NGC when they first started. He stated that they intentionally graded strict, and the prices back then reflected that strictness. NGC coins consistently bid higher than PCGS. That is why a coin in an original black holder is a guaranteed upgrade or gold sticker.

Check Steve Hayden at Civilwartokens.com. He sells on eBay, and has auctions and catalog sales on his website. I have bought from him in the past with no issues. He always has top notch pieces - usually some R8s and R9s, as well as finest known pieces, and pieces from well known collections. Also, the Civil War Token Society has auctions for members on its website.

I hope the handwritten notation "recol." doesn't mean what I think it does, because the color and finish of this coin look iffy.

You may want to look into these Intercept Shield slab covers: Click Here

According to Daniel Carr, the 1884 die that was used to strike examples at the Nevada State Museum (the old Carson City mint) was paired with a CC reverse from 1878.I found an example struck in copper here: Link

If the story about how the coin was acquired is false, the statement that it is .999 silver is likely false, too.

With all of the wishful thinking that we see on this forum, I really hope this one turns out to be a winner!

Do you have a record of the dates these pictures were taken? If you have the coin in hand, which picture most resembles the coin now?

Apparently few people will stoop over to pick up a cent or nickel, and dimes can be hard to see. Evidently, quarters, halves, and dollar coins are worth the effort to bend over and pick up. I, on the other hand, will pick up any coin, regardless of denomination or condition. Unless it is in a urinal. One has to draw the line somewhere.

It is a large date. It appears to be authentic. It is worth one cent. Welcome to The forum

If 20% of your coins came back with "altered surfaces" or some other "details" grade, it sounds as though you need to do a lot more studying and examining coins before you send in any more - regardless of where you send them. Sorry to be so blunt and harsh, but it appears the problem is not with NGC, but with your experience and expertise. Being able to determine if a coin has been cleaned or otherwise messed with normally takes lots of practice and requires viewing many coins in hand. I realize this is not what you want to hear, and I certainly will understand if you get mad at me and refuse to heed my advice, but I do believe what I wrote is true.

I hope that doesn't keep you from getting your money back when you return it.

The fact that he was exonerated does not necessarily mean that he was innocent. It only means that there was no proof of his guilt. However, the fact that Leech blatantly stated that he was mad certainly means his bias could have colored his judgement.

That is a great example. It shows clearly, especially on the obverse.

Word Gidden Ford was incorporated in 1953, and remained open until January, 1965. Their charter of incorporation not only covered the sale and repair of automobiles, but also included farm equipment, washing machines, flamethrowers, Victrolas, and televisions.

I'm not so sure. Have you been out west and seen all of the "Native American" artifacts that are actually made in China?

What a waste of time and bandwidth.

Why just a "southern" tourist trap? Why not one in the east, or any other part of the country? What are you implying, Roger?

I like it

Whizzing is a process designed to imitate luster by using a wire wheel to impart fine lines onto the surface of a coin. It looks nothing like this coin. As FMike said above, I have heard that ultrasonic cleaners will produce this look on a coin's surface. I have never experimented on one to find out if this is true or not.