BillJones

The grade is EF-40.

As for price, I have no idea. I know that some mint problems, like planchet laminations actually lower the value of Mint State pieces. I've seen this first hand. As for a clip on a circulated piece, I'd say that it would add maybe 10 to 20 percent, but I'm no expert when it comes to pricing errors.

Here is a piece I purchased at the last Baltimore show. It is an 1870 half dime in NGC PR-66. Its part of my original, never dipped Proof type upgrade program.

I have not found the way to show the luster on these coins in photos. That's why the obverse shot is not very good. Nevertheless, this coin has full Proof luster under the toning, which is gray, gold and blue on the obverse and mostly blue on the reverse. The piece also has a lot of raised die polishing marks, but they don't detract from it very much.

Thanks guys.

I had reservations about buying this because it is an expensive piece (for me) and my perception over the years is that the 1873-4 With Arrows coins are not that popular with collectors. They are scarce because the coins were a two year type, and the mintages were limited by the fact that the country was mired in a recession, The Panic of 1873, which limited the demand for new coins.

It was interesting to compare this PR-65 graded piece with a couple of PR-64 graded pieces I have recently purchased. From an eye appeal perspective, I actually like the PR-64 coins better. But when I put the coins under my microscope, the difference in the number of hairlines was pretty dramatic. I could see virtually no hairlines on the 1873, but the other two pieces had quite a few, which will covered by toning.

I hope that I will be able fill some more holes in my circa 1860 to 1891 type set with more PR-64 coins. PR-65 coins are a stretch. The trouble is these With Arrows coins are hard to find attractive in the MS and Proof grades. Most have been dipped white or have odd toning. That’s why I decided to spring for this one.

I just purchased this 1874 with arrows quarter in NGC PR-65. And yes these images are of the same coin. It depends upon the angle the viewer has when looking at the piece. It goes to show how different lighting can change the appearance of a coin.

This is a two year type, and the total mintage for the years 1873 and '74 was just 1,240 pieces in Proof. NGC has graded just 35 piece in PR-65.

I added this 1853 Arrows and Rays half dollar to my collection at the recent FUN Show. It's got lots of luster, and was better than a couple of other pieces I saw on the floor. It's in an NGC MS-64 holder.

I don't care the general appearance of this coin at all. It looks like a counterfeit to me. Going by the wheatears, the coin appears to grade at least EF-45 or AU-50, brown. But when you look at the obverse the Lincoln is poorly defined for the grade and rims are very weak and mushy. That indicates to me that the coin is not a U.S. mint product.

Some might argue that given the design change, the metal flow may not have been right to yield a stronger strike with the 1959 – wheat back design pairing. But this coin has the look of a piece that was struck or pressurized molded from copy dies that were fashioned from two genuine coins.

I found this 1913 half eagle at the last Baltimore show. I didn't come in looking for this coin, but when I spotted it, I had to pounce. This type is quite hard to find, and this is one of the few dates within the design that is "common." A large part of the mintage was melted because these coins contained too much gold.

It's in an NGC AU-58 holder.

This token was once listed as a Civil War token. Upon further research it was determined that the piece was struck circa 1907. As such it is among the "deleted varieties," but CWT collectors still go after it. It has an interesting history.

The piece was made from salvaged metal from the armor of the Merrimac or “Virginia” as the southerners prefer to call it. The Southerners purposely blew up the Merrimac in the spring of 1862 when it become evident that she was about to fall into Union hands. None of the metal from the Merrimac was recovered until 1867. Therefore since by definition all Civil War tokens must full into the 1861 to 1864 era, this piece cannot be a true CWT.

On page 227 of the Patriotic Civil War Tokens guide by George and Melvin Fuld, it states that this piece was probably made for the Jamestown Exposition by the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Works of Richmond, Virginia. In addition to this piece Old Dominion made a number of other souvenir items. One of them is this little horseshoe, which is mounted on an advertising card. Here's an example that is completely intact. I own this piece, but my Merrimac token is easily the worst piece in my collection. It is in Poor condition with honors. Things have just never worked out for me to own a better one.

I agree with Truthteller. Your nickel MIGHT grade MS-65 if it has very nice luster. The dollar is no better than MS-63. It could be a bit less than that if there is a minor rub on Ms. Liberty's cheek and the eagle's breast feathers.

According to my 1972 Red Book, which came out in the summer of 1971, the nickel had a retail value of $4.75 and the dollar retailed for $13.50. I'd be willing at wager that you paid a lot more than that for them from FCI.

Good story, shadroch!

Maybe we should stay away from the subject of baseball and stick to coins.

First Coinvestors was one of the really bad apples that ripped off collectors and investors shamelessly in the 1970s.

Along about 1977 I taught a coin collecting course at a local junior college. One night I had the students bring in coins for a grading seminar. One of the students brought two Liberty Seated half dimes that he had bought from First Coinvestors. Both were sold to him has “Gem BU.” One piece has a slider (AU coin) that had been whizzed (cleaned to look bright with a wire brush) and the other had been plated with rhodium. The guy had paid like $50 each for coins circa 1970, which was the going price for nice Mint State pieces back then. If he had been sold what he had paid for, his coins would have been worth $100 each or so then, but he got ripped off. The coins were worth about $5 each.

The conduct of the late Stanley Apfelbaum was enough to make me puke. He acknowledged that he had sold overgraded and damaged coins to collectors as “Gem BU” investment quality material. But he never offered to make things right by these people. Instead he hired experts like Walter Breen and Don Taxay to buy back his reputation. He also ran a series of ads in “Coin World” that were “to inform consumers” to win back their confidence that he really was a good guy.

Sadly if you bought bad coins from First Coinvesters, you have nowhere to go. Apfelbaum is dead and the company is no more.

Unfortunately my student who got ripped off by First Coinvesters did not learn his lesson. Later he and I had a discussion during which he told me that Franklin Mint issues were “great investments.” I tried to dissuade him of that opinion, but he won’t listen to me or one of my friends who had lost a lot of money on Franklin Mint material. Some people just won’t listen or learn.