The Half Dollar Hunt - WOW!!!

[jtryka]

Well, for those of you that search for treasure among half dollars, this has been a banner day for me! I got $160 in halves from the bank today, hoping to find some silver, and I did find 2 40% silver halves, but in the last roll I opened, I noticed immediately that one of them was too small. At first I was ticked that someone might have thrown a junk foreign coin in there, but it looked to be clad, and sure enough it was a 1980-P Kennedy. So I thought either it was one of those gag shrinking coins, or struck on the wrong planchet. I decided to take it with me to the coin show in Tacoma this afternoon hoping someone there might be more knowledgable than I am on such things. So I showed it to a few dealers who directed me to two others that were more senior/knowledgable. I showed it to them, and I think it made their day. They were in agreement that it looked by all accounts that this was a 1980 Kennedy struck on a SBA planchet. They were stunned that I just found it in a roll today, and were amazed at such a great find. They looked in the Red Book and said it was probably worth a few hundred bucks, but I would need to have it authenticated. Any suggestions on the best service for errors like this? Here are some photos to check out too:

 

Half #1

Half #2

Half #3

Half #4

[Tradedollarnut]

What a fantastic find!!

[Klectorkid]

I like ANACS

[gmarguli]

I'd go with NGC since they don't charge a premium.

 

However, PCGS is good with errors - albeit rather slow.

 

ANACS if also fine.

[jtryka]

Hey KlecterKid, welcome to this side of the street!

[IrishMike]

Great find, you might think of contacting some of the large error collectors to feel out their opinions on the subject.

[Tradedollarnut]

My guess is more like $400+

[jtryka]

Well, I was thinking about putting it up on eBay for $100,000 but then I would have to come on the message boards and try to hype it up with a bunch of spam messages that would make everyone ticked, but after thinking about it for a millisecond, I really don't have the time or energy to do it! Although I've already been semi-accused by someone on the other board of pulling a scam, but hey, I can't stop people from talking crazy talk!

[Guest]

You are not allowed to ask $100,000.00 for your coin. Don't you know, only reputable dealers are allowed to ask for such premiums? Is that a 50 cent on 25 cent planchet?

 

Coolcoin

[jtryka]

coolcoin,

 

the consensus among the dealers I showed it to today was that it is an SBA planchet, since the lettering in Liberty would be more cut off on a quarter planchet. It seems plausible to me since they minted SBAs in 1980, but the only way to tell for sure is to compare the actual weight.

[Guest]

A reputable dealer would ask many thousands for such a coin. They think common folk are only allowed to sell it for hundreds.They are worse than Lawyers. At all costs don't let anyone fool you or trick you like they did Laura.Most of all. Get it graded and slabbed from a reputable company.

 

Coolcoin

[jtryka]

Well, I will probably send it to ANACS for authentication and grading, and since it's been circulating for 20 years the grade is less important than the authentication. If it's authentic, I probably wouldn't sell it to a dealer, and if I did sell it, I'd probably just put it on eBay and let the market decide. After all, I'm only in this thing for half a buck!

[Guest]

Cool, If it goes on ebay let me know so I can watch it.It is neat. But get it slabbed for sure.

 

Coolcoin

[braddick]

It is absolutely real, from the photos and RARE. Kennedies on SBA planchets are just not found!

Would you consider PCGS? They would authenticate this one and if you were interested in selling it, I think you'de receive more in a PCGS holder than ANACS.

[jtryka]

braddick,

 

I could do either, but from everything I've heard from error collectors, ANACS is the shiznit for error coins. Personally I don't care, since if it's genuine and I sell it, I'll probably get a heck of a lot more than I paid for it, so whether its a heck of a lot + 10% or just a heck of a lot, I am good with it.

[Tradedollarnut]

Hmmm - if the planchet is smaller than the collar, how did the edge get such deep reeding?

[Hoot]

As far as I can tell, NGC does as well as ANACS for error coins. The consistency of the holder in your collection may matter to you, since the error attribution will be good with either NGC or ANACS.

 

And BTW, congrats!

 

Hoot