LLC0669

I believe it is the lighting. The coin actually appears more gray on the background while the raised areas have a brownish tone. I'm not sure what that means or if it's "odd". I took another set of pics in hopefully better light to better represent the color.

For me, collecting really is a fascination with the history and a desire to learn so I appreciate this comment. Thank you for your thoughts.

Thank you all for your replies and your insights. Unless my financial position changes (i.e. win the lottery 😂) I'll likely never have a super valuable collection of coins but the hobby brings me enjoyment. I guess one reason I've thought about getting a few graded is that it might help me be more educated about what I'm seeing. I read and look at pictures and research coins but I don't really know enough to trust that I can see the difference between a G, VG, VF, etc. I'm learning what to look for but often I buy a coin because it appeals to me and it fills a hole in my collection. Did I overpay? Sometimes...probably. Yes. So...maybe I'll take the suggestion from Mr.Bill347 and post some pics and see what you all think. I wasn't sure if that would be ok and I don't want to be "that person". 😬 Not sure if it's better to start a separate thread or post pics here so I'll start here for continuity's sake. These are the best pics I could manage of this 1829 half. It was advertised as VF but I don't think that's the case.

Hello everyone. I am very new to collecting and I've never submitted a coin for grading. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that I don't know how to know which coins are worth submitting. I don't have a lot of money for collecting and most of my coins probably aren't worth much but I find them fascinating and I enjoy "the hunt". That said, I have a few coins that I would like to have graded mostly out of curiosity (Indian cent, some large cents, walking liberty halves, for example). It's too late to make a long story short but here's my question: How does one decide when a coin should be graded? Do people have "average" coins graded? I have always associated grading with more valuable coins or high grade coins. I'm thinking if I can afford to have a coin graded to satisfy my curiosity then that's reason enough. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.