Sandon

I would grade the 1931 a solid "Good", with a retail value of $3 per the NGC Price Guide, although a dealer probably wouldn't pay more than the silver value, currently $1.75 or so. The 1916 only grades About Good. I was surprised to see that it lists $6 in this grade on the NGC Price Guide, though lower elsewhere. I doubt that you could get more than $2 for it. The 1921 is a semi-key date. It only grades Fair to About Good and has been "cleaned". Although NGC lists an unimpaired coin grading from Poor to About Good at $40, I think that $10 or so would be a fair dealer buy price if the dealer is willing to buy one in that low a grade.

1947-S Booker T. Washington commemorative half dollar, PCGS graded MS 66: The next post should be any coin dated 1947 or, I think any commemorative half dollar.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The numerous nicks on your 1948-S Lincoln cent are of the sort often seen on circulated coins like this that have been ground against rough objects or surfaces. Collecting mint errors requires knowledge of how coins are made and what the errors look like. Significant mint errors are very rarely found in circulation. See the following for some guidance. Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 1 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 2 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 3 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 4 | NGC (ngccoin.com) Variety vs. Mint Error | NGC (ngccoin.com) Basic Resources & Glossary - Newbie Coin Collecting Questions - NGC Coin Collectors Chat Boards The website error-ref.com is a fairly comprehensive guide to the known types of mint errors.

As I indicated, I also wondered whether this subsequent photo was from the same coin, as the photo quality was much better and as I couldn't see the extra image in the previous photos. I also identified that image as a possible indicator of a minor doubled die. I happen to have collected coins and studied numismatic literature for over 52 years now. I don't know everything about coins. No one does. (There's also a limit to what anyone can determine from blurry, over-exposed photos such as those you have been posting.) As a self-confessed "newbie", don't you think that it is more likely that we are right than you are? Wouldn't it be to your benefit to listen to us than trying to deceive us by posting photos of coins other than the ones you are asking us about?

Here are, courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries, photos of my 1983 doubled die reverse cent, authenticated and graded MS 65 RB by PCGS, the variety listed in the "Redbook": Note the crisp, clear doubling on the reverse lettering and at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial. In this case the doubling is in a downward direction because the "hub" used to create the reverse coinage die from which these coins were struck was shifted downward between blows. Die doubling can be in different directions, involve only portions of the affected die, or have a greater or (usually) smaller "spread", but it will always be crisp and clear, and if significant with both images at about the same level. Most of the "doubling" seen on coins is shelf-like strike doubling (a.k.a. machine or mechanical doubling) or "ghostly" secondary images resulting from die deterioration. The former type is dealt with and shown in detail in Double Dies vs. Machine Doubling | NGC (ngccoin.com). Coins with these other types of doubling have little or no collector value. I took a closer (blown up) look at your photos of the 1990 cent after writing my previous post and still don't see any evidence of die doubling in the lettering, only some ghostly images that are probably lighting reflections but could be from die deterioration. The coin also has plating blisters, which are extremely common on earlier copper plated zinc cents. (The 1983 DDR I posted has lots of them.) If the highly magnified photo of the area between the columns you subsequently posted is from this coin, the extra image between the columns might be indicative of a minor doubled die of the type listed on doubleddie.com or varietyvista.com, which you can check for comparisons. Be advised that such minor doubled dies have a limited market and usually aren't attributed by the top tier grading services. Respectfully, your difficulties seem to me to stem from (1) your apparent belief that you can find rare and valuable coins in circulation, which in real life almost never happens and (2) your desire to pursue advanced areas of numismatics such as rare die varieties without understanding basic concepts such as the obvious differences between circulation strike and proof coins and the basics of how coins are made. On one of your previous topics, I referred you to some print and online resources from which you can learn about such things. I also recommend that you attend coin shows or coin club meetings where you can see what some of the coins you are referring to actually look like and learn from experienced collectors and dealers about them, as well have them examine your coins in person. We can be more helpful if you have some knowledge.

A proof coin of the sort to which you are referring has a mirrorlike surface in the fields, and virtually all U.S. proof coins made from about 1975 on also have frosted devices and lettering that creates a "cameo" contrast, as on this 2000-S proof cent: The 1990 cent that you found in circulation is nearly uncirculated, with most of its original color, but has no trace of a mirror surface or frosted devices. It can't possibly have been struck as a proof. Moreover, the estimated 3,555 proof cents that the mint erroneously struck in 1990 without the "S" mintmark would have been included in 1990 proof sets (regular and Prestige) that were issued in hard plastic cases and sold to collectors. (One source--the 7th edition Expanded Deluxe Edition or "Mega Red" Redbook at p. 290, note x, indicates that no more than 250 of these sets actually left the mint.) To my knowledge, they have only been found in such sets, not among circulating coins. These estimated 3,555 coins were out of a total proof production of 3,299,599 proof cents dated 1990, so even if all of them had left the mint only one out of about a thousand 1990 proof sets could have contained a "no S" cent. Although low value proof coins that were removed from proof sets are occasionally spent and found in circulation, what are the odds that someone would have spent a 1990 "no S" proof cent worth several thousand dollars and that you would be the person lucky enough to find it? I see no trace of doubling--die doubling or otherwise--on your coin. I'll discuss this issue more thoroughly as a separate post.

See the following forum topics for basic resources for collecting U.S. coins: It is also important to study actual coins and speak with experienced collectors and dealers, which you can do at such venues as coin shows and coin club meetings.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. This is a common 1982 small date copper (brass) and in this lightly circulated and brown condition worth face value. Seven of the now eight known composition (copper or copper-plated zinc) and hub (large or small date) combinations of 1982 and 1982-D cents are all very common, with likely mintages of hundreds of millions or billions of coins each. They only have collector value in full red uncirculated condition, and only have significant value sufficient to submit to a third-party grading service in extremely high "Gem" grades like MS 67 RD or higher. You wouldn't receive such coins in change. The eighth combination, the 1982-D small date in copper (brass) composition (3.11 grams) is extremely rare, and only a few pieces have ever been found. You probably would have a better chance of winning the Mega Millions lottery than finding one.

I also had a FedEx delivery of coins submitted to NGC last week. The package was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday by 3 p.m., and after that time had passed by "the end of the day". Then the delivery date changed to "unknown". It apparently got on the delivery truck the next day at noon and was scheduled to be delivered by 4 p.m., which around that time changed to "by the end of the day." This was literally correct, as the deliveryman rang my doorbell at 11:29 p.m.! He told me that they were "backed up." The Postal Service has also been unreliable, especially since the pandemic started. Last year a package sent registered mail tracked to my local post office and disappeared for several days. It was only found and delivered after I made inquiries.

I bought this much better date 1893-CC from Stacks Bowers back in 2012 as part of a three-coin uncertified lot in which it was graded "F 15". I thought it had a chance of a VF grade. NGC, somewhat generously in my opinion, graded it VF 30. More to come.

As you may recall, I had planned to submit some of my better date (not better grade) Morgan dollars purchased years ago to NGC. I ended up submitting ten coins, nine of which received grades at or close to my expectations. The tenth, the prooflike 1879-O whose photos I posted was returned unencapsulated as having an "altered surface". I have edited my previous posts for that and the other coins from the group that I submitted (1885-CC, 1889-CC and 1899) to show the grades awarded by NGC. I had submitted this 1890-CC, which is attractive and minimally bagmarked but has light, wispy hairlines throughout the fields on both sides, thinking that it was a distinct possibility that it would receive an "Uncirculated Details, Cleaned" designation but also hoped that it would receive a low mint state "straight grade". NGC graded it MS 61.

It's probably a streak of toning, which acetone wouldn't remove. Such toning is normal for silver coins. The coin appears to be a proof.

By the "fields" I mean the portions of the coin that don't have any of the design, letters, numbers or other features, which are struck up from recessed areas in the dies. These "blank" areas receive the most pressure during striking. There are numerous fine lines (hairline scratches) in the fields of your coin, which indicate that the coin was wiped or scrubbed with some object, which would either reduce its grade or if perceived as extensive enough be regarded as an abrasive "cleaning". There are remnants of the original frosty luster around the letters and stars, which further indicates that the coin has been wiped or scrubbed, likely in a misguided effort to remove toning as was common years ago. This likely occurred long before you acquired the coin, which has since retoned. Most uncirculated coins of this issue have a uniformly frosty luster, like the one whose photo I posted, and are not "shiny". See A Guide Book of United States Coins, Expanded Deluxe ("Mega Red") Seventh Edition at p 1117 (2021). Some exceptional pieces are "prooflike", meaning that they have a somewhat mirrorlike finish. Based on the photos, which only show one angle and lighting intensity, your coin is neither frosty, except in the protected areas, nor prooflike; and the "shine" you see is likely due to the rubbing, which may have involved the use of silver polish and, if so, would definitely result in a designation of "cleaned" or "polished". I suggest that you show the coin to experienced collectors and dealers at a coin show, coin shop, or coin club meeting for opinions based on in-person examination. You may also want to compare it with certified pieces that have been awarded uncirculated grades. You could also try posting head on (not angled) photos that are better cropped and lit, which might show us more. I'm not sure whether you are already a collector or just happened to have this coin from your high school days. If you aren't currently a collector and want to become one, or if you want to learn more about grading or otherwise evaluating coins, let us know. We can direct you to the appropriate print and online resources.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The NGC Registry forum is for topics pertaining to the NGC Registry. Your topic would likely receive better attention if posted in the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. The Administrator will likely move it there. If I take your question as to whether your 1893 Columbian commemorative half dollar "should be graded" literally, my answer would be that every coin you want to collect should be graded--by you, and to be successful as a collector, you must acquire the knowledge and skills to do so. What you mean to ask is whether the coin is worth submitting to a third-party grading service such as NGC. In order to determine this, you also need to know how the grading service would likely evaluate the coin. Based on your photos--photos often being inadequate to determine a coin's grade--your coin is quite unlikely to be worth the cost of certification. I see a small amount of "rub" on Columbus's cheek and the ship's sails, which could lead to an "AU" grade or limit an "MS" (uncirculated) grade to its lower levels. I also see that the coin has hairlines on the fields on both sides, which would either reduce the grade or lead to the coin receiving a "Details" (non-numerical) grade as having been "cleaned". The coin also appears to be somewhat darkly toned and generally lacking in luster. Assuming that the coin would not be designated "cleaned", I predict a grade range of AU 58 to MS 62, whose range of retail (dealer selling price) values on the NGC Price Guide would be $26 to $52. Silver Commemoratives (1892-1954) | Price Guide & Values | NGC (ngccoin.com). The minimal "Economy" tier NGC grading fee would be $23, and, assuming that you have already paid the minimum $95 annual fee for submission privileges, your order would also be subject to a $10 processing fee, $28 return shipping fee, and the cost of shipping it to NGC. See NGC Services and Fees | NGC (ngccoin.com). (It might be somewhat less expensive to submit it through a dealer but still not worth it.) The coin would have to achieve a minimum grade of MS 64 ($175 retail value) to be even arguably worth the cost of submission and even then not by itself. I happen to own an 1893 Columbian half dollar that NGC had graded MS 65 before I purchased it, whose photos (courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries) appear below. Note the full, sharp detail, relatively unmarked surfaces, and bright luster. The coin has a great deal of "flash" or "cartwheel" that can't be seen in the photos but which are an important element of the grade. P.S.--Grading service holders do not prevent coins from "toning" over time, though they may slow it down. I recommend you move your coin to a better holder such as a capsule or hard plastic "snaptite". If the flip it is in is soft (vinyl), the polyvinyl chloride may have gotten onto the coin, which can damage it. If you see a green substance on the coin it should be soaked in a neutral solvent such as acetone to remove it.

1950 proof Franklin half dollar, PCGS graded PR 64: Photos courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries

The copper nickel Eisenhower dollars had a weight tolerance of 0.907 gram, so a genuine uncirculated piece could weigh anywhere from 21.773 to 23.587 grams. The weight you got of 22.5 grams is quite close to the official weight of a normal coin. Most metals have a whitish color, so the color isn't a reasonable basis even for a guess that it contains any silver whatsoever.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Your 1971-D Eisenhower dollar is almost certainly not silver. Although a few 1974-D and 1977-D Eisenhower dollars are known to exist on 40% silver (silver clad) planchets intended for the production of pieces for collectors' issues struck at San Francisco, to my knowledge no such 1971-D pieces are known to exist, and it is unlikely that it would take over 50 years before any would be discovered. Your coin appears to have been abrasively "cleaned", as indicated by its hairline scratches, which could have slightly altered its color, which isn't a good indicator of the composition of a coin in any case. If you're claiming that the coin's edge is solid white instead of mostly copper colored or brown, which isn't clear from your post, it is likely because the coin has been plated or coated with some foreign substance. How did you determine that the coin wasn't plated or otherwise have an altered surface? As suggested, the coin could be counterfeit, as large numbers of counterfeit coins of even common issues such as Eisenhower dollars have been made in Mainland China since about 2005. You show the coin's weight as 22.5 grams, which is much closer to the official weight of a copper-nickel clad piece (22.68 grams) than it is to a silver clad collector's issue Eisenhower dollar such as the 1971-S (24.592 grams). (The official weight of an 1840-1935 era or 1984-2019 commemorative .900 fine silver dollar is a still heavier 26.73 grams.) The silver clad issue has a legal tolerance of plus or minus 0.984 grams, so the minimum legal weight for a coin struck on a silver clad planchet would be 23.608 grams. I assume that your scale is accurate; many inexpensive digital scales aren't, and the better ones measure out to at least hundredths rather than tenths of a gram. I suggest that you have this coin weighed on a professional quality scale, and if it still doesn't weigh at least 23.608 grams, you should assume that it is either an altered normal copper-nickel clad piece or a counterfeit. If its weight is within the legal range for a silver clad Eisenhower dollar, it might be worthwhile to have a professional test it on an XRF (X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy) machine or test its specific gravity, which should be 9.53 if it is silver clad and 8.92 if it is copper nickel clad. If the tests indicate that it could be a silver clad piece, it could then be worth the further expense of submitting it to a third-party coin authentication and grading service such as NGC or PCGS. If you are unfamiliar with the submission process, you should have a reputable dealer assist you. See Find Coin Shops & Dealers | Coin Dealer Locator | NGC (ngccoin.com). If we seem skeptical, it is because many others have posted claims of having found extremely rare or not known to exist off-metal planchet errors (for example, 1943 bronze cents, 1971-D silver clad Kennedy half dollars, 1977 silver clad Eisenhower dollars). All of these claims were disproven or were never verified. Who knows? Perhaps you will be the first one who actually had such a coin.

To the author--I can't see much about your 1955-S cent--which would have been better posted as a new topic--from the blurry photos provided, but the raised area to the right of the mintmark that you interpret as a numeral "2" is most likely the result of die chips--small pieces that fell out of the die that left depressions that appear as raised areas on the struck coins--which are very common on coins of this period. Some of these chips appeared to form a letter "I" between the "B" and "E" of "LIBERTY", which at one time resulted in a fad of collecting the resulting "BIE" cents, as described in the following topic I posted last year: These anomalies never had much value and are rarely collected today. If you still think it that a numeral "2" was punched into the coin but can't post better photos, I recommend that you show the coin to established dealers and experienced collectors at a coin show, coin shop, or coin club meeting in your area. If you are generally new to coin collecting, I suggest you refer to the print and online references identified in the following topics:

This is unquestionably fake. All of the 1,758 1794 Flowing Hair dollars reportedly minted were struck from a single die pair. Nearly all are more weakly struck on the left side than the right, and all of the design details match exactly. Compare such details as the date numerals, star size and style, Liberty's hair and face, and the positions of the letters in relation to Liberty's head and the eagle with these photos of a genuine piece from the NGC Coin Explorer: The edge lettering style is also no match to that on a 1794-1803 Flowing Hair or Draped Bust dollar, such as the following from an 1800 Draped Bust:

There has been no further response to this topic for the past six months, and it does not appear that any forum member's rank has changed during that time. I suggest that either there be some rational system by which members can receive revised rankings or that the rankings and related icons be eliminated.

When NGC added these ranks and icons last May, I posted a topic on the Ask NGC/NCS forum inquiring about how these rankings were determined and how a member would progress from one rank to the next. The Administrator's response was essentially that they would get back to me, which hasn't occurred. New Chat Board Rankings and Icons - Ask NGC/NCS - NGC Coin Collectors Chat Boards. I'm going to post a reminder on that topic and suggest that other interested members do the same. I think that NGC should either have a system by which these rankings should change over time or eliminate them altogether.

1953-S Franklin half dollar, PCGS graded MS 65:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. This topic would likely receive more attention if posted in the "U.S., World and Ancient Coins" forum. The Marketplace forum is for buying and selling specific coins in accordance with the rules stated in the Coin Marketplace Guidelines. See Coin Marketplace Guidelines - Coin Marketplace - NGC Coin Collectors Chat Boards. I'll ask the Administrator to move it there.

Please don't ask questions on this thread, as it is for identifying print and online resources for new collectors. Whitman's "Handbook of United States Coins", a.k.a. the "Bluebook", covers the same coins (U.S. and related) as the Redbook, though in somewhat less detail. It is supposed to list the coins at wholesale (dealer buy) instead of retail (dealer sell) prices, but because it is only published once a year and prices can change rapidly these days, it really isn't very good as a guide to current dealer purchase prices. I wonder why Whitman still publishes it.

The issue was the spelling of "bolls", not whether "bolls" or "blossoms" is the correct term. What is depicted on the Morgan dollar doesn't appear to match either the cotton blossom or the boll. I don't know whether George T. Morgan, who had immigrated from England, had ever seen live cotton plants or what botanical guide he had used. I actually don't have a "nickle", notwithstanding that a member of my coin club insists on spelling the word "nickel" that way.