Old coin, new picture. Walking Liberty Half

[RGT]

Here's one I've had a few years. I bought it in an old green PCI holder graded MS63. When I bought it, PCI was much more respected than they are today and I paid a full MS63 price for it. With the way PCI grades now I decided it needed a more respectable home, so I sent it to NGC a few months ago. They agreed with my opinion that the coin was better than that and gave it an MS64. It has an almost matte finish to it with soft satiny luster.

 

[TomB]

That's a superb coin.

 

Perhaps someone can help me with this one; as soon as I saw only 20% of the image of the coin I knew it was a 1916 or 1917. So, did the Mint re-hub the series sometime in 1917 to produce coins with a somewhat different look? It seems to me that the 1916 and 1917 issues have a more pebbly finish and wider rims.

[Hoot]

Fantastic piece, RGT. That'd look GREAT in my album! I love the look of the 1916 and '17 pieces.

 

Hoot

[EZ_E]

That is a nice strike! Decent thumb/hand detail, the head's not bad and the

 

eagle's leg is sharp. Looks like a nice original coin.

 

[etexmike]

I really like the colors on that Walker.

 

Nice job on the upgrade.

 

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etexmike

[James_OldeTowne]

I know the guy who did PCI's grading at the time when they had respect in the marketplace - I'll just call him RC. He was (and is) an extremely knowledgeable numismatist, an exceptional grader, and a wizard at detecting counterfeit and altered coins. I lost track of RC a couple of years ago, but hope he's doing well. When he left PCI, they went downhill in a hurry.

 

James

[RGT]

Thanks for the nice comments from everyone.

 

Tom, I'm waiting for someone to answer that question too. I collected these years ago but they were all circulated and I don't remember seeing any real difference in the surface texture. It was all worn off.

 

Here's an interesting one Heritage is trying to sell at Long Beach.

 

1917 Walker Presentation Piece?

 

I think it looks just like mine, so if someone wants to offer me $9,500 I might let it go.

 

James, I have heard that PCI had only one grader in the early days, maybe when they had the old photo certificates. At some point they got more, before they sold out. The local dealer here used to do part time grading for PCI. He told me once that he quit not long after the transition. He got a call from the new owners telling him he was grading too strictly and he would have to loosen up.

 

I think he still does authentication for them sometimes.