DWLange

There may not yet be a coin number for that issue. If it's something not certified by NGC previously then someone has to make a corresponding number. This goes fairly quickly for US coins, but world issues, especially varieties, will take longer.

Any coin that is not genuine will always be identified as such by NGC on the label. This matter is the highest priority, so you may be assured that any coin not so noted by NGC is genuine.

Welcome, Ray Tatum. While there are others who use the forums more than I and will likely chime in with additional advice, as an employee of NGC I'll try to get you started. The first rule is to play nicely. The members here will quickly lose patience with trolls or anyone who is argumentative or abusive. Ask your questions or post an image or two, and you'll find that there are many knowledge, experienced folks who are quick to answer honestly and with enthusiasm. This is generally a happy, welcoming message board. There's a Marketplace Forum specifically for selling and trading. There's also a Water Cooler forum for non-numismatic topics where members can just trade stories, gossip, etc. I suggest you start out by reading a number of existing messages to see how they progress. You'll soon get an idea of the give and take that makes for successful, welcome discussions.

That's not a fair comment. Dealers and others setting up at shows have to work around flight availability, shipper schedules, security concerns, etc. These are becoming more restrictive all the time.

The surfaces don't look natural. It appears to have been polished.

Your photos are difficult to discern, but that appears to be the Wide AM reverse.

That's a good example of die clashing. The dies struck one another without a planchet between them, and the obverse die received an inverted impression of the E in DIME. You can see the inverted outline of the Liberty figure on the reverse, too. It's fairly common, especially on small coins, as small planchets often experienced mis-feeds into the press.

Just a mutilated coin; the cut-out portions are too sharply curved to have been a minting error.

In case it doesn't, yes---that's a very obvious fake.

In recent decades the U. S. Mint seems to have been running on auto pilot, creating more coins than were needed and striking every denomination at every mint. The only time in the past 60 years or so that the Mint reduced production in response to the economy was 2009. The dip in mintages that year prompted speculators to hoard all they could get, with the result that coins of that date are seldom found in circulation. The only exception were the quarters, the mintages of which seem to have been unaffected. Whether they were actually needed for commerce or were overproduced because of their commemorative designs is uncertain.

Genuine 1800 half cents have the old style reverse leftover from 1795-97. The left and right sides of the wreath meet at the top with single leaves, not the double leaves seen on the right side of the subject coin. See the photo for the correct reverse.

It would seem there are still many out there to be found. On the contrary, I believe it means that people searched high and low for them when new, and all or most were certified early on. It's very unlikely that more than a very few additional pieces will be found.

Yes, it is a modern replica (polite term for counterfeit).

Regarding the ferries, the Golden Gate Bridge has always been limited to cars and other motor vehicles, as well as pedestrians, and it entirely supplanted ferry service until recent years, when congestion brought them back as an alternative to the highways. The Bay Bridge limited automobiles to two-way traffic on the upper deck, while electric trains of the Key System operated on the lower deck, along with trucks and busses. Once again, growing auto congestion forced a change in 1958, when the trains ceased running, along with the ferries that had continued until that time. The upper deck was thereafter restricted to all motorized westbound traffic, while the lower deck handled all eastbound traffic. Pedestrians have never used that bridge, so far as I know. As a native San Franciscan, I've been across both bridges countless times, though I was born too late to buy a Bay Bridge Half Dollar onsite.

I see one graded in 2021 and another in 2022. It appears that these were the only ones certified by NGC subsequent to 2011 or so.

The odd look on the obverse of this cent is the result of a very worn obverse die. The peripheral elements were drawn toward the rim after many thousands of strikes. It's not a variety or mint error but simply poor quality control.

NGC has imaged every coin certified since about 2008, in the holder, and these images may be viewed by anyone at it's website. If there are no photos, it must have been slabbed prior to that time.

The point I was making is that particular issue stood out as scarce in circulation, while other P-Mint quarters of the period were found easily.

I was collecting all USA coins from circulation in 1969, and the 1969(P) quarter was tough to find even then. Of course, I lived just outside San Francisco, so it took awhile for Philly coins to work their way west. I wrote about this coin and several other elusive modern issues in one of my columns: https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/8704/USA-Coin-Album/

I read ATS that Charles Cataldo of Alabama Coin & Silver has passed. He was one of the brightest people I've known in the dealer community, and I'll certainly miss him.

He is referring to the AGE series.

If you're willing to pay the additional $18 fee for variety attribution, your 1884 has a repunched date variety recognized by NGC. Be sure to click the PF tab at upper right to see the proof varieties: https://www.ngccoin.com/variety-plus/united-states/nickels/liberty-head-five-cents-1883-1913/?page=1

Those do appear to be good candidates for NCS conservation.

That sounds quite promising. I'll look forward to reading both.