• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

A Proof Walker Par Excellence... A Mark Feld Special to end a long search

Started by airplanenut,

22 posts in this topic

airplanenut

airplanenut

Posted
Posted

(As promised, a follow-up to this thread)

 

Walking Liberty half dollars are among my very favorite coins ever struck by the mint. The design is beautiful, and they are available in just about any budget. I have quite a few mint state examples, and for many years have eyed proofs. Some time early last year I decided to finally get one. In one sense, proof walkers are a dime a dozen. You can go to any show, the inventories of countless dealers online, or eBay, and find plenty.

 

But I didn't just want any old proof walker. While flashy is nice, I think they're incredible with cameo frost, and to show off the frost, they also need deep, watery mirrors. Proof walkers with almost any hint of frost are hard to locate, and many proofs also have some level of haze that obscures the mirrors. It also couldn't be an actual cameo, as those are well out of my budget. Over the last few years, I've bought very few coins, preferring to really find the best ones I can and taking quality over quantity. I've waited years for the right coin many times, and have never regretted it.

 

So I started looking. And looking. And for a few months I saw nothing of interest. Occasionally a coin with a nice obverse might pop up, but then the reverse killed it. Since these types of proofs can often look much frostier in images than in hand (by virtue of lighting, not image manipulation), I was also skeptical with most I saw online, even when they did look good. So by late spring, I decided to do what I've done many times in the past when on a hunt for an easy coin at a difficult level of quality: I contacted Mark Feld, all-around great guy, close friend, and purveyor of many of the finest coins I own.

 

So I searched, and so Mark searched. While most of my searching was done online, Mark had the advantage of walking numerous shows and looking through lots of auctions. We'd exchange notes. Usually I'd find nothing online, and he'd have seen nothing that matched my description at a show. Then one day in early September, a phone call during work hours. Bear in mind, when Mark calls me during work hours, it usually means he needs tech support, so I was bracing for the worst. Instead, he was calling to say he finally had a coin he thought might match what I was looking for (he played it down to keep me from getting my hopes up too much) and to let me know it was in the mail.

 

A few days later, here it was, in all its glory! Extremely deep, watery mirrors, near-cameo obverse frost, and a frosty reverse (but not as much as the obverse). Held at the right angle, the obverse can even take on a deep cameo appearance, too, which is really exciting for me. Needless to say, this was an instant sale. In all, from the time I started looking until the time I actually bought the coin, some 18 months had elapsed, and I'd guess Mark was a part of the hunt for about 15 months. Hosting a guess how long it took to find thread, Mark garnered responses in the range of a few months to a few years, and on average, they were right. Mark also guessed he looked at upwards of 1000 coins to find it. I should finally note that I did pay a premium based on what the number on the holder says, but nothing unreasonably high.

 

I've been holding off on posting this since I didn't want to do so until I had pictures available, and I finally got around to taking them. I took a few to show both the frost and the mirrors. Granted using multiple lights helps bring out the frost, so at other angles the frost is significantly reduced, but no special lights are needed to make the coin look like this in hand. It's graded PCGS PR66+ with a CAC sticker, making it both my first CAC coin and first + coin. I don't really care about either, since the coin is what matters, but heck, the coin deserves it accolades.

 

So in summary, yet another long search is done, and yet again I'm very satisfied having waited for the right coin to eventually present itself. Oh yeah, and Mark is a great dealer to work with.

 

pcgs26214362_obv1_sm.jpg

pcgs26214362_obv2_sm.jpg

pcgs26214362_obv3_sm.jpg

pcgs26214362_rev1_sm.jpg

pcgs26214362_rev2_sm.jpg

 

Jeremy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
brg5658

brg5658

Posted
Posted

Beautiful coin Jeremy! And, fantastic images. You are one of a very few sellers on eBay whose auctions I follow religiously. Your consignment material is always stellar, and your images are top notch!

 

(thumbs u

Link to comment
Share on other sites
airplanenut

airplanenut

Posted
  • Author
Posted
It's probably my new glasses, but that first image almost looks like a DDO to me...I assume its not though?
Nope... that's just an effect of the devices reflecting in the fields. I've found it a rather common effect on proofs with the chrome mirrors (the modern proofs with such deep, "perfect" mirrors tend to photograph without that effect).
Link to comment
Share on other sites
James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

Posted
Posted

That is definitely a lovely coin!

 

Many fellow board members know that I have been studying this series (proof Walkers) for some time now and am the very proud owner of a complete run of all of them. From what I think is a fair amount of experience, I feel very comfortable in stating that the 1939 is the single best date in the series for close-to-cameo examples. Mark obviously performed fine service for you in obtaining a great example!

 

I'll offer only only criticism that I trust will not be taken as a negative comment; this is simply friendly conversation on a series that I truly love.

 

For me, the sharpness of my 1939 was just about as critical as the cameo potential. All things being equal, you might have preferred a coin that doesn't show modest weakness in the lower torso feathers, above the right (observed) foot. This is a fairly common characteristic of the 1930s proofs, as well as all dates struck off of late dies. Of course, maybe your coin is sharper than is implied by the images, but I compared mine in-hand, and am pleased with the additional definition my coin shows in that area.

 

Anyhow, as I said, your coin is fabulous and I hope you enjoy it for a long time to come. This series is severely underrated right now, in my opinion (though the 1936s never seem to go down in value).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MarkFeld

MarkFeld

Posted
Posted

Thank you, Jeremy. That was a great read, even though I knew the story.

 

I have stated this before, but it is a pleasure to assist Jeremy with his collecting. He is incredibly patient, very discriminating and gets the most out of his collecting budget. He and a number of other collectors I work with help to make my "work" most enjoyable.

 

Thanks again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing