1893 COLUMBUS EXPOSITION COMMEMORATIVE HALF DOLLAR HELP!!!

[acan451]

Hi Everyone I posted this coin when I won it, well it arrived today and I took my own pictures.

This time I was able to get a pretty good picture and it shows a lot of detail not seen in the first.

It is in a 2/2 flip and any marks you may see is from the plastic on the flip.

 

I just can not believe how amazing this coin looks in hand, just looking at the coin you can see all the detail without a loupe.

With a loup it blew me away, for a coin that is 119 years old, it looks like it was made for a proof set yesterday.

What I find fascinating is where has this coin been for nearly a hundred and twenty years?

 

I would like to get some help here grading this coin, I say MS 66, I have great respect in the grading skills of the members of this form and would like to hear what you have to say. I hope my pictures are good enough to help in your decision. Remember any marks you see are on the plastic cover, not the coin.

I am sorry if I made the pictures a little on the big side, I am not very good at using the software.

Thanks everyone.

All the best

Alan

[L1ncolnF4n]

First off, your photos are not going to lead to accurate grading. You need to ensure that you have more direct lighting, as it's very hard to make out details and wear with these. Second off, it may be the photos, but the surfaces to not look MS to me. Looks like wear on the device on the obverse, bottom of the front of the hairline appears blended to the cheek and should be detailed on an MS coin. Reverse looks to have some gunk around some of the lettering, and the coin may have been cleaned at some point.

 

That said, I emphasized that the pictures were not sufficient to get an accurate grade, so if you take new images, I may change my mind completely.

[RWB]

From the photos, it appears to have been dipped many times; also, there might be wear at the high points of the bust and ship. Might be AU-58 but too much dipping to be desirable.

 

If you can, toss this fish back into the pond.

 

(Look carefully at the discoloration on the reverse close to lettering, and obverse fields. These areas plus the residue around UNI indicate harsh cleaning.)

 

[acan451]

Thank you very much I learn so much from this type of thread.

All the best

Alan

[FishyOne]

Your coin looks over-dipped and if it graded MS, it would be limited to 62.

 

It looks like a slider to me and is likely a 55 or 58.

[coinman_23885]

55.

 

I think I see rub on the cheek, but with the images, there is really no way that anyone is going to be able to estimate the grade with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

[delta]

It's especially tough to guess at a grade when the coin was photographed inside a flip, even if the flip itself had been flawless.

 

Whether or not the coin has issues, and regardless of the grade it ultimately receives, please try to continue enjoying it, it's still a magnificent item.

[jgrinz]

Definitly cleaned

But a nice pick up for a raw collection AU58

For comparison - this is my 65.

[bsshog40]

I mostly go to the sails, especially the top one, to determine wear as these are the most high spots on the Columbian. It looks dipped as others have stated and also looks about AU55-58 to me also.

[Senex]

AU55 at best, IMO. Plus very little eye appeal.