What do you think of this seated half dime in NGC holder?

[realone]

Upon viewing the Heritage close up, this coin doesn't appear to be a ms in my mind, I may be in the minority on this one but it appears that it has been cleaned or there is wear under the toning. Now I realize that photos can fool one but its just my dumb newbee arse opinion. Mike made a good call in what appears to me hit or smash above the shield and there sure seem to be a lot of illusionary "X's" on the obverse. I don't know but I have seen coins with scratches on them and allowing for random markings there are certainly a lot of coincidences having to do with "X's" marking the coin up. In my mind as much as I would love to own a 1838-O H10c to add to my own sister Dime this coin would give me indigestion after paying a lot of money for a lot of question marks, I mean "X" marks to be exact.

[jesbroken]

I agree with you, Mike. The 'goose' above the shield is very distracting. This coin has more going against it than the supposed graffiti marks-which when you add them all together really makes this coin less and less desireable as these negative attributes add up. Unless this coin was cherrypicked(which is unlikely) I would pass.

[relicsncoins]

I think the coin is AU.

[BillJones]

I agree with those who say that this coin should not have been graded. The "A" is graffiti that was done long, long ago. For that reason it blends in with the rest of the coin, but it is some that was added outside the mint after the coin was struck.

 

The “A” bugs me, and for that reason I would not buy this coin unless it is an issue I REALLY wanted, AND I could not find another piece without a problem like this.

 

[JRocco]

Every time I look at this coin I clearly see "AMY" scratched into the reverse.

Illusion or not, I see it every time and I see it right away.

 

I do not think, based on what I see, that this coin should be in this or any holder.

[CoinRaritiesOnline-migrati]

Whether the various marks cited are actually graffiti, or are merely some minor scratches which look like letters doesn't much matter, does it? As long as they look like letters, the coin will be rejected by many potential buyers as questionable.

 

I know it would prevent me from buying it.

[Tradedollarnut]

I will be very interested to hear back from Mark on this coin - I stand by my belief that the majority of what people are 'seeing' are just toning streaks .... no reason for the coin to be bagged whatsoever.

[realone]

Lets assume TDN is correct about there not being any graffiti, look at the obv and the date, and the shield (besides the flaw that is mentioned in the description and highly noticeable), and the Liberty and below the shield. I happen to see more than one "X" on the obv and am willing to say they are ALL scratches. I believe NGC once again gave points for toning to bring it up to a 62 from a possible AU+. There are more things wrong than right, but I must say the toning is very sweet if it is NT. BTW it sure appears to be a dipped out coin, even the description says luster is weak that later retoned rather nicely.I happen to want A 1838 H10c in MS, but if this one goes for MS $'s that owner may have to hold on to for a long time to come. Again Heritage's description sounds more like a glossed over warning ("This example is generally well struck except for Liberty's shield and the date. Variegated green, red, blue, and gold patina occurs on each side, over the primary medium-gray color. The luster is somewhat weak, and a shallow abrasion appears near the center of the shield, but these flaws are not inconsistent with the assigned grade level. Census: 2 in 62, 5 finer (11/07)." Hmmm its like a used car salesman selling a mercedes that was repaired for the most part but that was involved in a recent wreck where the frame was bent, it scares me. I know one thing if I won it and got it and didn't like it Heritage with their warning label would never consider taking it back, they would tell me I was warned and I didn't choose to read it.

[Elbesaar]

I think I see the Virgin Mary.

 

[MarkFeld]

I viewed the coin in person today. I thought that what looked like the letter "A" was probably (though not definitely) graffiti. However, I showed it to a client of mine and he didn't think it was graffiti. Neither of us saw other letters, imaginary or not So, the answer is that it probably isn't graffiti.

[Frank Provasek]

I'm in the illusion camp, but would be interested in hearing an in-hand assessment of the coin. Photos can be misleading, and human eyes tend to see previously-known symbols in things -- it's the way our brains work...Mike

a guy named Wilson Bryan Key wrote a book claiming "sex" was imprinted in Ritz crackers

[Frank Provasek]

If a couple of random scratches look like a letter, the coin is rejected because someone "might have" done it. A Greek, Turk or Asian would accept the same coin, because his mind doesn't "see" a known symbol.

[CHABSENTIA]

I would have to agree here. If you look at the top part of the "x" you will see that the legs of the "x' are exactly the same height.What are the odds that random scratches would form a letter and be exactly the same height?

 

 

The lines forming the "x" at the bottom are not exactly the same length but the "x' is proportional overall.