1854-O Seated Liberty Half Dollar with what I think is a die crack. 0

[Philrs4]

Hi,
I posted this question on Coin Help U Community very helpful and nice people. They pointed me to this site for more answer. I have more pictures, but I would need to resize the rest of the images. 
I have one 1854-O Seated Liberty Half Dollar with what I think is a die crack. The Die crack seems to be all over.... I would greatly appreciate your advice and knowledge on this type of coin. 
1) is it worth any real high value
2) is it worth sending it off to be graded
3) if yes... is it worth sending the coin off to an auction site like Heritage auction.
Thank you in advance for your time. 

[Coinbuf]

Welcome to the forum, yes it looks like the die was close to fatigue thus all the die cracks, the cracks add some character but do not add any real numismatic value.  That date/mm was a high mintage and thus one of the less expensive coins from that timeframe.  Condition wise from your photos I would say it grades about XF40 to XF45 and appears to maybe have some damage in the right obverse field, cannot say for sure from your photos.  Slabbed undamaged coins in this condition have been crossing the auction blocks for around the $150 to $180 range recently, if the coin does have damage to the obverse field that may reduce its value.   However its very difficult to know how much any damage might reduce the value, that is a case by case, bidder dependent result.  As it will cost $50-$60 to have it slabbed and Heritage takes a large fee to sell a single coin like this I doubt that you would be left with much at all after all the fees.

Another auction venue you might consider is Great Collections, good owners, good service, and the fees are much less.  But even then depending on how much you paid for the coin you might end up in the negative column after all the fees.  If it were my coin I would put it into a nice kointane holder and enjoy it, best of luck with whatever choice you make. 

[Philrs4]

Wow!!! Thank you so much for your input and advice... super helpful.... I will definitely put the coin in a nice holder... after all she is over 150 years old and still some what in good shape. Thank you so much again for taking time to answer my post. So helpful... Please stay safe and healthy. 😊

[Just Bob]

Looks like someone tried to buff those obverse field scratches. I don't think this one would get a straight grade, judging from the pictures. Other than that issue, it is a good looking coin. I think I would put it in an envelope or wrap it in tissue, and see if it would tone enough over the next few years to lessen the lightness of the buffed area. You will never remove, or even cover up, the damaged area, so I don't think it would be unethical or dishonest to try to give it some color,  but it might help the looks a bit. 

Nice pics, by the way.

[zadok]

ur coin is prob WB-die pair 5-E.....bill bugert's registry of liberty seated half dollars (most likely the most comprehensive set of reference books on any coin series ever published) shows in great detail the various obverse n reverse dies used for this series n the die pairings utilized for each date n each mint etc....the 1854-0 issue was high mintage n there were many pairings of dies used almost all exhibit numerous die cracks at various die stages...1854-0 is replete with extensive die deteriorization, this date is fairly common , ur coin is most likely n xf45 plus grade but not likely to grade without details...there could be a question about natural toning or not n there r some field marks that may or may not result in details, its diff to assess a coin from photos...either way the $ value of this coin is prob worth less than $200 n as such marginal to have it certified.... 

[Philrs4]

9 hours ago, Just Bob said:

Looks like someone tried to buff those obverse field scratches. I don't think this one would get a straight grade, judging from the pictures. Other than that issue, it is a good looking coin. I think I would put it in an envelope or wrap it in tissue, and see if it would tone enough over the next few years to lessen the lightness of the buffed area. You will never remove, or even cover up, the damaged area, so I don't think it would be unethical or dishonest to try to give it some color,  but it might help the looks a bit. 

Nice pics, by the way.

Thank you so much for your advice and the complement on the coin. I guess this won’t be the coin that I’m gonna retire on. LOL 😂 

[Philrs4]

7 hours ago, zadok said:

ur coin is prob WB-die pair 5-E.....bill bugert's registry of liberty seated half dollars (most likely the most comprehensive set of reference books on any coin series ever published) shows in great detail the various obverse n reverse dies used for this series n the die pairings utilized for each date n each mint etc....the 1854-0 issue was high mintage n there were many pairings of dies used almost all exhibit numerous die cracks at various die stages...1854-0 is replete with extensive die deteriorization, this date is fairly common , ur coin is most likely n xf45 plus grade but not likely to grade without details...there could be a question about natural toning or not n there r some field marks that may or may not result in details, its diff to assess a coin from photos...either way the $ value of this coin is prob worth less than $200 n as such marginal to have it certified.... 

wow!!! Thank you so much for pointing me to the registry. I found a match for my coin. Learn a lot about the coin. Not too bad on the rarity scale. Worth Less than $200 now...but maybe in about 50 years who knows. Lol 😂 I still have tons of old US and Foreign coins to go through. There’s still maybe hope for diamond in the rough coin. Lol 😂 thank you so much again for your help.

[zadok]

yep u can spend years studying the various die pairings in any of the liberty seated series....each has its own dynamics n amazing rarities, the half dollar series just happens to have the most extensive n comprehensive research available thanks to bill bugert n randy willey...one can literally spend years just attempting to complete die pairings from a single year, e.g. ur 1854-0 ...unfortunately u will find very little discourse on any of those series on this forum, its mostly lincoln cents, morgan dollars, st gaudens $20s , n modern silver issues here....for specialized collecting n research ur better off to join one of the more advanced groupings i.e. Liberty Seated, John Reich, Early Coppers, Barber series clubs....