Sandon

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Unfortunately, your "coin" is a crude counterfeit, probably of a Draped Bust, Small Eagle reverse silver dollar based on your photos showing it occupying the entire width of your fingers. (If you must hold a coin you think is valuable with your bare hands, hold it by its edges.) It is probably made of base metal and has no value. That the piece is not genuine is obvious for a number of reasons, one of which is that the raised, flat rim encircling it is indicative of the use of a "close collar" that wasn't used for any U.S. coins until 1829 and not for dollars until 1836. Here is what a genuine 1796 silver dollar with a small date looks like (NGC Coin Explorer photos):

I wonder how long it will be before NGC starts receiving submissions of these pieces from ignorant "collectors" hoping to get "star" grades for the "beautiful toning"! My late grandmother had an ethnic utterance that subsumes everything previously said in reaction to the marketing and appearance of this alteration: FEH!

When I first saw the posted item, I thought of a type of uniface die trial called a "splasher", but these have a positive image and are surrounded by excess metal. The hub trials shown in the links have negative images and lack the excess metal but are much more finely detailed and smoother than this item. I still believe that the item posted in this topic is an impression made from the obverse of a struck 1925 quarter outside the mint and probably made of lead or other base metal. It is missing most of the fine details of the coin, but Liberty's breast appears to have been enhanced.

The OP states that his coin is NOT copper, so I assume that it is just a common, zinc coated steel 1943 cent, worth less than a dollar unless in uncirculated condition. I assume that he had heard of the extremely rare 1943 cents struck on leftover bronze blanks and wanted to know if they are valuable.

1941 Lincoln cent, PCGS graded PR 64 RD, from a 1941 proof set I acquired in 2018: Photos courtesy of Stacks Bowers Galleries.

I recall 1973-S silver clad Proof (a.k.a. "brown box") Eisenhower dollars (mint issue price $10) being offered later in the 1970s for as much as $200! The mintage of slightly over one million pieces was touted as "low"! Today they can be had for $25 or so in the original packaging. Similarly, I recall 1975 proof sets (mint issue price $7) being offered a few years after their issue for $25 or more. The mint had sold out after selling well over 2.8 million sets, and there was excess demand for a while even though the 1976 dated quarters and half dollars in these sets were identical to those in the 1976 proof sets. (The "Ike" dollars in the 1975 sets are "Variety 1", while those in the 1976 sets are "Variety 2".) Nowadays 1975 proof sets retail for around $12.

If the anomaly is incuse, it is probably either a strikethrough or a planchet flaw so deep that the pressure of striking couldn't flatten it out. In either case, it would probably, though not definitely, be regarded as too minor to attribute as a mint error and wouldn't be a die variety, of which enough could exist for someone to promote it as the "weak S" variety and try to create a market for it. Not everything that is unusual has significant market value, and that is likely the case here. You may wish to take the coin to a coin show or other venue (coin shop or coin club meeting) with experienced collectors and/or dealers who could examine it in-person and give you their impressions. Strikethroughs are fairly common on U.S. coins of all eras. I recently posted the following topic on strikethroughs on several examples of a specific die variety of 1856 large cent. No one had thought these significant enough to write about them before, and they command no premium.

@powermad5000-- It is my understanding that reeded edges on U.S. coins since the "close collar" method was instituted between 1829 and 1836 are imparted as the coin is struck by a grooved collar, not by passing through "rollers". You may be thinking of the edge lettering or "Castaing" (after the inventor) machine that was used on earlier U.S. coins to impart either a lettered, decorated, or reeded edge. A similar machine or process is still used today to impart edge lettering on circulation strike modern (Presidential and later) dollars.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The standard weight for a Standing Liberty or other silver quarter made from 1873 to 1964 is 6.25 grams, not 5.9 grams. This piece also has rough, dark surfaces with ill-defined features that suggest that it is a casting made from the obverse of a 1925 Standing Liberty quarter, not a product of the U.S. Mint. A search on error-ref.com turned up no form of "brockage" that looks like this. It may have been someone's crude effort to create a counterfeit coin or to fake a mint error.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. As @Just Bob just stated, the 2009 and 2009-D Lincoln Bicentennial cents are only worth face value in circulated condition, and large quantities of uncirculated coins were put away by dealers and collectors at the time of issue. None that you would find in circulation is likely to have any premium value for the foreseeable future. As a new collector, you may benefit from the following topic describing print and online resources that will enable you to learn how to identify and value U.S. coins:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. (Edit: For better attention from forum participants, topics of this nature should be posted under the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. The NGC Registry forum is for topics pertaining to the Registry.) I looked at the enlarged version of the photo of the reverse of this coin on NGC Certificate Verification as well as your photo. The defect on this coin appears to be the result of a sizeable chip or gouge in the die. (A strikethrough would generally cause a depression in the coin rather than a blob of raised coin metal.) It is possible that more pieces with this defect will turn up, as the die should have continued to produce coins with this blob until mint workers noticed the problem and retired the die. The NGC Frequently Asked Questions page states regarding mint errors NGC will grade that "NGC does not recognize as mint errors those coins with minor die chips, breaks, rotations, etc., which fall within our interpretation of mint tolerance. The determination of what constitutes a mint error is solely at the discretion of NGC." NGC Grading FAQs - Coins Accepted By NGC | NGC (ngccoin.com). The same rule applies to die varieties, which would be the classification for coins with this defect should a number of them turn up. See What is a Variety? | NGC (ngccoin.com). It is unclear whether NGC would regard this larger chip or gouge as "minor", and it is unusual to see such a die defect on bullion coins, which are supposed to be carefully produced. While I personally would find this coin to be less rather than more desirable because of this defect, there may be collectors who would pay some premium because of it whether or not NGC were to recognize it. It really isn't possible to provide a valuation for such an item. There would have to be enough of them for sufficient transactions to occur to establish a market price.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. If you are referring to the series of tooth-mark like depressions to the left of the designer's initials (a "W over A" monogram for Adolph Weinman), this is almost certainly damage from the coin receiving blows from some hard object, possibly the edge of a larger coin as suggested by @Coinbuf, after it left the mint. As a damaged, circulated common date "Mercury" dime, it is only worth its silver value.

As others have indicated, this is a privately minted medallion or "round" that hopefully contains one troy ounce of .999 fine silver as it represents. Various manufacturers have made such items with innumerable designs over the years going back to at least the early 1970s, as well as rectangular decorated 1 oz. silver "art bars". This one happens to bear an imitation of the Liberty head used on the Morgan silver dollar, which I assume is what misled you to believe that it is a silver dollar. Although many people who are interested in accumulating silver bullion buy such items, I'm not aware of any collector market for them in which any designs that may have been determined to be scarce or rare sell for much of a premium over their silver value. I'm also not aware of any effort to catalog all of them, which is probably why you can't "find anything that matches it." (Edit: @VKurtB just found such a match.) The facts that the medallion doesn't state "United States of America" or "E Pluribus Unum" and has no (mint?) mark are of no significance. Perhaps that the manufacturer didn't want to give the false impression that it is a U.S. government issued coin. I don't know of any U.S. coin that says "shield".

It doesn't matter to CAC whether you or I may think that an NGC or PCGS certified coin is very nice for the grade. It matters only that John Albanese and those whom he employs at CAC think that the coin is nice for the grade. If you think that your already third-party graded coins are nice for their assigned grade, why would you need CAC to validate your opinion for additional effort and expense? If you think that CAC stickers have any real significance, it might be more economical and convenient to buy certified coins that already bear a CAC sticker.

I'd ask @Greenstang, @EagleRJO, and @Coinbuf to reconsider their responses. The coin clearly appears to be a large date to me. The coin appears to have a rough surface from environmental damage, which has distorted some of the numerals on this too enlarged photo. The shape of the "8" and the closeness of the "2" to the rim are indicative of a large date. A photo of the entire obverse would have enabled us to check for the differences in lettering on the two varieties, as shown in the following photos. Additionally, if you draw a line through the bottom of the date touching the "1" instead of beneath it, it should show that the bottom of the "8" is slightly below the bottom of the "1" as shown on the top photo of the large date.

1950 proof Jefferson nickel, PCGS graded PR 65:

Before you submit any coins to grading services, it is important for you to become knowledgeable and experienced in grading coins yourself. Those who are successful in obtaining the same or higher grades on coins that were previously certified (sometimes derisively referred to as "crack-out artists") only submit coins that they have good reason to believe will "cross" or upgrade. Some of the coins in the old, small sized white insert ANACS holders were very conservatively graded by today's standards, but you would still need grading knowledge to determine which, if any, might be worthwhile to submit to NGC. (These old holders may become collector's items in their own right.) The quality of grading in the later, current size holders varies in my experience. This article by Jeff Garrett, a highly experienced coin dealer, gives generally good advice on submitting coins to grading services, including the pitfalls of attempts at crossovers and "crack-outs". Jeff Garrett: The Art of Rare Coin Submissions | NGC (ngccoin.com)

@EagleRJO--When evaluating early (especially pre-1837) U.S. coins, it is important to bear in mind that dies wore quickly and were frequently polished or repaired to remove clash marks and other defects to extend their use. The appearance of coins struck from these dies can vary markedly over the course of the life of the dies. The photos for the O-116 variety on VarietyPlus (obverse below) are from an earlier die state than the coin posted for this topic, as shown most clearly by the more elongated star points and weak or flattened rim dentils on the topic coin, which is typical of Capped Bust half dollars struck from worn dies. The only difference I can see in the date is that on the VarietyPlus coin the inside of the "2" appears to have a weak extended point that had likely vanished due to die wear and/or polishing by the time the topic coin was struck. (Your comparison photo is of an O-108, which has a slightly differently shaped "8", "2", and "5".) Additionally, Overton indicates that Liberty's mouth is open on the O-116 (not on the O-108), which may be the reason you believe the face looks different.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. Both the authentication and grading of coins often require in-person examination. There is a limit to what we can do with photographs. Based on the photos, this 1825 Capped Bust half dollar appears to be of the O-116 die variety, a common variety, and is likely a genuine coin. It matches the photos for this variety in both the Overton book and NGC VarietyPlus, including for the positioning and shapes of the numerals in the date. I assume that the edge is lettered FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR with a star at the end. (The lettering is sometimes blundered.) The coin has Extremely Fine or so details and is scratched and appears to have been "cleaned", probably with metal polish, so as others have noted it is an impaired or "problem" coin. Valuation of such coins is highly subjective. An unimpaired Extremely Fine lists $200 in Coin World, so a dealer might try to sell it for $100-$120. As such pieces can be difficult to sell, the dealer buy price might be no more than half of this range.

Before you submit this excessively worn (Poor details) and damaged coin to any grading service, wouldn't it make sense to learn something about the differences between 1916 and 1917 Type 1 Standing Liberty quarters and satisfy yourself that it will likely be determined to be a 1916 first? The mintages of the 1916 and 1917 are 52,000 versus 8,740,000, so the odds that a random Philadelphia Type 1 Standing Liberty quarter is a 1916 are less than 0.06%. After just a few minutes of searching online, I found a YouTube video--a legitimate one, I think--that shows the diagnostics on side-by-side images of a dateless 1916 and a dateless 1917. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzRi-YXH2rs The shield rivets on your coin appear to identify it definitively as a 1917, and Liberty's bottom hair strand and the folds on the bottom of her gown also appear to identify it as a 1917. (The rectangles on the cabinets on each side of Liberty are also too well defined for a 1916, but they may have been strengthened by tooling.) You are welcome to do additional research to come to our own conclusion.

1853 eagle ($10 gold), NGC graded AU details, cleaned, but still rather nice:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. This is almost certainly a "magician's coin" made outside of the mint by cutting two quarters along the edge and bonding two of the same side together. You can usually see a seam all around the edge. This also explains the unusual orientation of the two sides and why the piece is slightly underweight at 5.6 grams instead of the specified weight of 5.67 grams.

1869-S Seated half dollar, PCGS graded VF 35:

Welcome to the NGC chat board. It is entirely normal for a cent dated from the early to mid-1960s through 1968 to have the obverse lettering appear to touch the rim. The master die for the obverse of Lincoln cents had been in use since 1919. Over the years Lincoln's portrait and the lettering had spread out as the die was used to make numerous "hubs" that in turn were used to make working dies that struck coins. The problem got worse every year. The master die was finally replaced for 1969 coinage and has been replaced several times since. This 1964-D Lincoln cent may have also been struck ever so slightly off center or from a slightly misaligned obverse die. Neither circumstance would give the coin any premium value. In the future, please post cropped photos of both sides of coins about which you have questions.

Welcome to the NGC chat board. The "Coin Marketplace" forum is limited to posts offering to sell or buy numismatic items under the rules stated in the lead topic on this forum. Questions about coins by new collectors should be posted under the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. Please post clear, cropped photos of both sides of the coin about which you are asking questions, not distant photos like these that show mostly the table on which the coin sits. Based on what little I can see in the photo, this is very likely just a worn and corroded clad dime worth only its face value of ten cents. Even the outer layer of such a coin is 75% copper and can turn red when exposed to various corrosive substances in the environment. Contrary to what you may have seen on the internet, it is extremely unusual to find significant mint errors or other coins of value in circulation.