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Cameo Prooflike Seated Dime

Started by physics-fan3.14,

28 posts in this topic

physics-fan3.14

physics-fan3.14

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I saw this on Teletrade the other day, and had to pick it up! This piece is strongly cameo'd, and has the most amazing strike you could imagine. The mirrors are quite reflective, although not as deep as I've seen before. Prooflike Seated coinage is available, especially in the later dates. It rarely comes as nice as this piece, however. The challenge for the Seated series is going to be the early types. For the purposes of my set, I am going to attempt to get three main types: with stars 1838-1860, with arrows 1853-1855, and with legend 1861-1891. The most difficult is going to be the with arrows type, due to its very short production. Anyways, I'm quite proud of this beautiful piece - any comments? By the way, its graded NGC MS-65 PL.

 

IMG_7710.jpg

IMG_7711.jpg

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physics-fan3.14

physics-fan3.14

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You are quite correct sir! I've actually got enough that I could send him a small shipment now. I'll probably wait until after FUN, and send him whatever I get there.

 

By the way, the thing my photos didnt' really pick up is how textured all the devices are. The surface of Liberty and the wreath is finely textured, almost like the die was sandblasted or treated in some way (I'm not sure how the cameo effect was imparted on proofs of this era). The cameo appears to me to be quite intentional.

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James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

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The low-mintage Seated quarters and halves of the 1879 - 1890 period struck in Philadelphia are renowned for being most often prooflike. I've written about these fantastic business-strike coins numerous times in my cataloging duties. Indeed, many times, the business-strike coins are superior in strike and reflectivity to their proof counterparts!

 

The dimes of the same era appear fully prooflike much less often, but they are definitely out there. Looks like one found a great home -- with you!

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michael

michael

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looks good in the photo and i bet A great eye appealling prooflike coin in hand

 

revrse looks deeper mirrored with a really strong cameo to boot

 

 

congrats

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coinman_23885

coinman_23885

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For anyone curious, I found the coin had sold a few years ago on Heritage here: http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=414&Lot_No=893

 

 

And then here are the Teletrade pictures:

 

c29632124-a.jpg

 

So you got this coin for more than $100 below the Heritage sale price?! Wow! I think that was a great price.

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physics-fan3.14

physics-fan3.14

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That is a nice dime, though looks over graded, IMHO.

 

Care to explain why you think that? Obviously, its your opinion and you're entitled to it, I just want to know if there is something you are seeing that I am missing.

 

In hand, I would argue the coin is quite possibly undergraded. The only mark on the entire coin is the one small tick in the obverse field.

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dimefreak

dimefreak

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That is a nice dime, though looks over graded, IMHO.

 

Care to explain why you think that? Obviously, its your opinion and you're entitled to it, I just want to know if there is something you are seeing that I am missing.

 

In hand, I would argue the coin is quite possibly undergraded. The only mark on the entire coin is the one small tick in the obverse field.

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news because the coin is really nice! I think it was over graded also. Allow me to tell you why.

 

tick on N (United)

tick on I (United)

3 ticks on right arm

tick above eye and in the hair

Multiple ticks on cheeks

tick on left breast

multiple ticks on right and left legs

tick on A (America)

Obverse filed tick combine with what look to be hairlines

Few ticks on the bow

slight tick on the M (Dime)

 

This really is a stellar coin and the reverse is stunning (Possibly PL66) but as we all hav learnt the hard way. It takes two sides to achieve the grade. I really hope you enjoy it and are proud of it because its a great looking coin

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physics-fan3.14

physics-fan3.14

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That is a cool error dime, DF, although I am wary of buying ANACS PL's after a few failed to cross.

 

As for my dime - alot of what you are seeing is incredibly minor, and perfectly in keeping with a 65 (remember, its a full 5 points from perfect!). A lot of those "ticks" are also incredibly small - you only see them because the picture is about 100x the size of the actual coin. Some of them are not actually ticks at all, but design features which you see because the coin is so amazingly well struck.

 

Hairlines - there is a combination of two things going on here. First, there are some scratches on the slab which look like hairlines. Second there are some fine die polish lines in the obverse field. Die polish lines, since they are mint made, do not detract from the grade at a 65 or 66 level, in my opinion.

 

If any of y'all are going to FUN this year, I will bring this coin for an in hand evaluation.

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James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

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Based on my interpretation of all the provided images, the coin looks like a no-question gem MS-65. Prooflike coins (and of course, actual mirrored proofs) have the unfortunate tendency to exaggerate any tiny blemish, but even so, the coin in question appears unusually nice for the grade.

 

There appears to be only a few hairlines that delimit the maximum grade.

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dimefreak

dimefreak

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Im sorry if I offended, like I said the coin is very nice. And of course since I specialize in dimes I am well aware of how they in hand compared to large blown up pictures. You said the coin had one nick, and asked for a reference to any other nicks. I would now like to point out the positives.

 

Most obvious- PL qualities

Full and flawless Dentils

Full and flawless Exergue

Strong Anvil Die qualities

Lastly- Overall eye appeal

 

It's a coin to be proud of ;)

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PCcoins

PCcoins

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Looks to be a nice coin, but most likely dipped. I personally would like it more with some skin or color.

 

Teletrade pics make the coin look close to proof, nice pickup.

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physics-fan3.14

physics-fan3.14

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No offense at all DF, I just wanted to make sure you and I were seeing the same things. Of course, you being a specialist in Dimes I value your opinion, it was just strange to see such a very different opinion than everyone else's.

 

Jon - the coin very likely has been dipped, but I really don't mind as much on the prooflike coins. I want to be able to clearly see the mirrors and intricate details, which may be obscured by toning (this is, of course, the same reason NGC hesitates to designate PL on thickly toned coins). In fact, the majority of 19th century PL coins have probably been dipped. As long as the toning hasn't progressed to the point where dipping will damage the delicate mirrors, I can understand the "white is right" viewpoint on PL coins. Obviously, I would prefer attractively toned, original PL coins, but these are too scarce to try and limit myself too.

 

Question DF - you mention "strong anvil die qualities" : Which one is the anvil for this series?

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dimefreak

dimefreak

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No offense at all DF, I just wanted to make sure you and I were seeing the same things. Of course, you being a specialist in Dimes I value your opinion, it was just strange to see such a very different opinion than everyone else's.

 

Jon - the coin very likely has been dipped, but I really don't mind as much on the prooflike coins. I want to be able to clearly see the mirrors and intricate details, which may be obscured by toning (this is, of course, the same reason NGC hesitates to designate PL on thickly toned coins). In fact, the majority of 19th century PL coins have probably been dipped. As long as the toning hasn't progressed to the point where dipping will damage the delicate mirrors, I can understand the "white is right" viewpoint on PL coins. Obviously, I would prefer attractively toned, original PL coins, but these are too scarce to try and limit myself too.

 

Question DF - you mention "strong anvil die qualities" : Which one is the anvil for this series?

 

As we all know minting at this time was crazy....so the anvil could have possibly varied. For the most part, your coin included, the anvil was the reverse. I mean the reverse on your coin is just smoking with eye appeal.

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