JKK

I assume you are specifying sold listings. Anyone can put whatever price they wish on something; that doesn't mean anyone will pay it. What someone paid is a datum.

This is the variety called 'hot garbage.' The coin is badly enough corroded that any other varieties do not matter and are pointless to explore.

On 12/24/2023 at 12:44 PM, NeverEnoughCoins09 said:

Thanks for the clarification, my apologies.

No problem. It's one of those situations that requires rotating the chessboard, so to speak. If the OP keeps adding coins to the thread (which they ought not to be doing), that's one thing; at least any replies are to one of their coins. Far as I am concerned, if they get confused and have no idea which one we're talking about, that's excellent because it'll teach them why we tell them to post one coin per thread. But when a second poster comes in, now it's not even clear to whom replies are.

We do get that people hesitate to start new threads because threadspamming is a major faux pas on some forums, and that using an existing thread is normally considered a good thing in other places. On top of that, if they have fifteen coins, there's the natural question: "You really want me to post fifteen threads? You won't get mad?" It's a fair question. The answer is yeah, we really do want them to, but I can see why people feel a little nervous about that. On some forums that would get one's butt thrown right off there--but not here. (It being almost impossible to get one's butt thrown off this one, which has made it a great haven for some huge dill doughs, but that's another topic.)

On 12/21/2023 at 11:44 AM, NeverEnoughCoins09 said:

What is going on here?

For one thing, you're posting it in someone else's thread, when the preferred practice is to start a new one. Otherwise people responding have to figure out what a given post is talking about, which is a pain, so many of us will just ignore it.

On 12/20/2023 at 7:26 PM, Smb740 said:

Both worth grading of course ? I also have a 1938 nickel that’s exactly the same tones and look is it one also? 

I doubt it, if the grading has a financial motive. I'd like to see evidence that someone has actually paid $60 or so for an example.

Looks pretty original to me, and rather nice. Not sure how obvious the notable scratch on the cheek is, but that and some field scratches in front of her nose would seem to me to be the grade limiters, along with what might be a pretty good ding under TRUST. The first are in prime focal areas, so the question is how obvious those are without magnification. We see blown-up pics of coins so often it's easy to forget that grading is without magnification, and what's obvious to us here might be less so in hand.

If those are still obvious in hand, I think this tops at 63. If they look relatively faint in hand, perhaps 64-65. I think there are enough scattered contact marks to keep it from going much higher. I think if you get it in the mid-$500s you probably got a very good deal. That's competitive 63 pricing. 64 would send it up around $800-900. If it were 65, competitive pricing would be closer to $2000 or so. So whatever they're asking, you can tell what grade they think it is by the price. Then you can decide if that's a fair grade (we'll help).

I don't see any errors, but the way you asked is okay because it lets experienced people scrutinize your coins and see if they find anything that's an error. Those would normally jump out at us like neon signs if they were real errors. If/when no one notices any, maybe then it's important to explain what it is you think might be an error. The only time you need to be specific right off the bat is if the error is very small, hard to see in a full photo. Speaking of which, very nice photos. You pretty much did it right, which is more than can be said for most first-timers.

In case it's of interest to you, it shows that you have done some homework. Nicely done; you have accelerated your path out of the Usual Questions Everyone Asks That We Don't Mind Answering But Are Eager To Move On From And Start Talking About More Interesting Numismatic Aspects. It's fun to watch when someone sees the passing lane, uses it, puts the hammer down, and skips some of the dull steps.

Short version: As you seem to have sussed out already, finding modern coins that are rare and valuable is very uncommon. The whole striking it rich through pocket change thing is bunkum. It's all much more difficult than that. You can see examples all over: That which looks too good to be true looks that way for a clear reason.

Welcome. If you ever decide that ancients are your thing, bong a gong or something to get my attention, and we'll start you down that specialized path. Otherwise, most people here know more than me, and since you're open to actual learning, will teach you all you want to learn.

On 12/14/2023 at 12:26 PM, Endling_King said:

I appreciate the bluntness. and you have a valid point that it would be better financially for me to save the money I would spend on getting them graded. I am well aware none of the coins I posted are going to be major finds (or even minor ones). And honestly the only 2 coins I have submitted in the past that were maybe actually worth getting graded was the 2014 W gold Kennedy half dollar (worth according to NGC about $2,550) or my 2001 W $5 CAPITOL VISITOR CENTER gold coin worth according to NGC only about $425. and even then, I've had people tell me that neither of those coins are worth getting graded.

 

Here's the best argument I can make to help prevent you from wasting your money. Suppose you spend $250 for plastic and to have it confirmed that the coins are no big deal (overwhelming likelihood). How much coin could you have bought for $250? For that I can get two Roman Republic denarii in nice condition and have money to spare for a decent bronze. I could also get a very respectable bustie (early 1800s capped bust half). I could just about get a lower-grade 1914-D cent. How much for gold $1 coins these days? Pretty sure one is within that financial reach.

Or I could have plastic that tells me my coins are of minimal value.

If that doesn't move you, you're dead set on it, and I can do nothing but watch helplessly.

On 12/8/2023 at 8:23 PM, edhalbrook said:

It looks kind of cool but yeah it's.... I don't know I don't get the toning thing much. It came in a bag of wheat pennies.  There seems to be lots of them out there. Weird but they are being sold by some of the same people. 

Probably artificial toning. One way to do this is a certain kind of heat treatment. Probably making good money bilking the rubes, who look and think "ooohhhh shinny" (most of them don't spell too well) and that "shinny is better, so pretty pretty rainbow colors are better still."

There is no chance it could get anywhere near 68 with this much cloudiness. I'm not feeling like digging out my grading guide, but I think PR-61 is more probable. As I recall, even to get much above 63 the luster needs not to be badly impaired.

Ebenezer and YT are very fraught ways to learn, where you take one step forward and five steps back.

What you need to realize is that to everyone here--that is credible, anyway--"I saw it on Ebay/Youtube" is code for "I'm completely deluded and you will have to break down everything I think I know in order to help me." Not saying that to be hurtful, just being completely frank. F-bomb Ebay and YT. Compared to several books I could recommend, they are great wastes of time. So if you do want to learn might as well go ahead and express everything you believe that you learned there, so we can tell you what's wrong with it and get you started learning how to really collect coins.

Lesson one: modern pennies are mostly not worth much and that is especially true when they've already begun to corrode (see those little teal spots). Lesson two: nearly everything you have learned is a Rare Mint Error is of minimal interest to most serious collectors.

Given that you already found a couple of bogus pieces in that lot, if you have as much sense as you seem to, you will now be questioning the authenticity of any piece therein that seems to be valuable enough anyone would bother to counterfeit it.

I would mark it down as tuition, avoid that vendor in the future, and make a stronger vetting effort on vendors in the future. There's no way to prove the allegation. Without proof, no return. I can't see how they make enough money on this to be worth going back and forth with rolls. They would argue that maybe you went through it and now want to send it back because you didn't find glory. It's too nebulous a battle to win.

On 12/2/2023 at 4:12 PM, edhalbrook said:

I'm getting used to the toned nickels in my books. They look like so many others I have seen. I'll stock with what I got and try and add the odd ball ones to the collection. Thinking on maybe getting some variants to add to it. I don't really do variants at all though. Need to learn more there. Is there only two W nickels?  

I don't know. What I do know is that toning is often artificial, sometimes appealing and sometimes uglier than sickcoins' posts, and varies highly based on environmental factors. If the coins are in an older album, some form of toning is highly likely.

There are decent and bad counterfeits of 1804 dollars. Then there are the atrocious, and unfortunately, yours is among them. Can't speak to the 1870 due to the pics.

On 11/30/2023 at 5:57 AM, edhalbrook said:

Jeez that dime looks horrible. Did it look like that when it got graded? 

Eye of the beholder, and I expect it probably did. I think it looks beautiful and natural--but I long passed the stage where the goal was bright and shiny. Too much of that is cleaned. Give me a naturally toned patina on an otherwise fully clean, original surface any day.

There's nothing wrong with you preferring them untoned--and you will save some money over the years by not overpaying for coins baked in potatoes--but you should reasonably expect to find yourself in a minority.

They are ordinary.

On 11/25/2023 at 1:52 PM, EagleRJO said:

JKK, did you really expect anything other than dodged questions or further misinformation?

No. I just wanted to see if he'd respond to a straightforward question so that I could either give up on him or hold out some hope and respect. It was a 'take your best shot and we'll go by that.' Answer received.

On 11/24/2023 at 12:48 PM, Nicoke said:

Why wouldn't it? It's an old one. It has 3 all silver bicentennial quarters. A bunch of Buffalo head nickles. A large 1879 Morgan. Some Indian head nickles

Because it's hard to imagine anyone wanting it. I would suggest consigning it with an antique dealer.

On 11/22/2023 at 3:01 PM, MTuttle said:

Thank you JKK, appreciate the extra time here.  I'll see if i can get it under better magnification and check for the lateral scratches. Great suggestion!  The pictures make the surface look "lumpy" (great technical term there). Where they appear very smooth under the limited magnification I have here. 

Coin photography is hard. I suck at it and can't give you any useful help except to say that what you provided doesn't look like coins normally look in hand. I think it takes a lot of practice and motivation to get good at it. Most of the issue seems to be lighting, which as near as I can tell is the major challenge of much photography.

On 11/22/2023 at 2:43 PM, MTuttle said:

Thank you - Do you have any "beginner" advice on how to tell if a coin has been cleaned? (Understanding that your eye has had years of training). This is part of group of coins that was passed to my mother (recently deceased) from her father.  I believe it has been in the box I found it in for 40+ years.  

It might have been cleaned before that. It happens.

The kind of cleaning that appears possible here is abrasive, as in usually a wire brush. Look real close under magnification and see if you see lateral scratches all over it. They differ from circulation wear (of which this coin seems likely to have very little) in that circulation wear is random whereas wire brush cleaning is rotary (Dremel tool) or lateral (usually handheld brush). I can't say for sure from the pictures, but I'd give it a closer look.

If not cleaned, this might be in the mid-to-high AU range or even low MS. What looks like a rub spot above the ear can often be slight strike weakness on a Morgan. Look also on the eagle's breast, which is another high spot.