Walking Liberty proof grade? 0

[Standby]

In addition to collecting the bust coin series I am fond of walking liberty halves. I purchased this coin yesterday. I couldn't resist. It's currently in an OGH. I will reveal the grade later. I believe the holder is very scratched up and difficult to see the coin clearly so I'm hoping it's even nicer than it's current grade.

Please tell me your opinion of its grade.

I'm doing this for fun so please be kind.

 

[Hoghead515]

I know how they look through a scratched slab. Im going to say pf65. Very nice addition. Love those Walkers. 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Hoghead515

[FlyingAl]

It's nearly impossible to grade proofs from photos, and with a scratched slab it's even more of a guessing game.

However, I saw this particular coin listed on Ebay a few days ago and I think it looks good for the grade from what I can see.

[Standby]

I think it was a good buy and something I won't need to upgrade for my type set.

[Walkerfan]

I hope to buy a few WLH PROOFS in the not too distant future. 

That is one area of Walkers that I have yet to explore.  

Grading proofs from images is challenging, at best, so I won't even try.

My only guess is that it is some level above 60 and that it looks better in hand.    

Edited December 25, 2022 by Walkerfan

[AdamWL]

I'll throw out pf62 as my wild guess. I haven't tried grading proofs of any series much.

[numisport]

Heavily traded PCGS holders can get this 'road rash' look to them. Because of the raised portion in the center of the slab they get the rash when handled aggresively often by dealers. To me this is a sign they have been bought and sold many times over. These should be avoided because nobody wants to spend 75 bucks for a reholder. 

With that said the coin appears to have nice mirrors, some frosty devices and likely shows hairlines. What is the grade on the holder ?

Edited December 25, 2022 by numisport

[Standby]

Here you go.

BTW this is the end of the road for this slab. It's coming out the day I get regardless of an upgrade. This holder's to dam ugly.

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Standby

[VKurtB]

On 12/25/2022 at 2:05 PM, Standby said:

Here you go.

BTW this is the end of the road for this slab. It's coming out the day I get regardless of an upgrade. This holder's to dam ugly.

 

 

 

What a hideous slab! Ridden hard and put away wet. 

[Hoghead515]

On 12/25/2022 at 3:05 PM, Standby said:

Here you go.

BTW this is the end of the road for this slab. It's coming out the day I get regardless of an upgrade. This holder's to dam ugly.

 

 

 

Wonder if you could fix the pcgs slabs like the NGC. I started a thread a few days ago about scratched holders. I had one with serious road rash. Im waiting on some finer grit sandpaper to come in the mail and a plastic restore solution. I worked on it just a little with 1000 and 2000 grit paper and a buffing wheel and it already looks amazing. I cant wait to see the results after the finer grit paper comes in. I ordered a pack that has 3000 to 10,000 grit and some plastx that @Coinbufrecommended. I had amazing results with very little effort. Ill post my final results when everything comes in and im done. Not sure how it would work on a PCGS slab but an NGC slab shines up great. Im sure a PCGS would also. 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Hoghead515

[Coinbuf]

On 12/25/2022 at 8:37 AM, Standby said:

It's currently in an OGH.

Not a huge thing but this is not a PCGS OGH holder, that is the generation 1.2 Rattler holder.   The rattler holder was the first holder used by PCGS when the firm started operations in 1986 thru 1989.   There was one generation prior to this one used for the first month or so of operations, same holder but the label was slightly different.   The OGH holder is the type of holder that PCGS used after the rattler was discontinued.

It is of course your choice but there is still some bit of premium that the rattler holder can see in the market.   Rattlers are rather common so that premium is not huge, just want to see if you were aware of this.   As Hog wrote I suspect that many of those scratches can be removed with a bit of elbow grease, again your choice.

[Standby]

I never thought of doing that. It's something I am very good at. I have all of the right stuff. Just think "old headlight restoration ". What a great idea!

[Hoghead515]

On 12/25/2022 at 7:24 PM, Standby said:

I never thought of doing that. It's something I am very good at. I have all of the right stuff. Just think "old headlight restoration ". What a great idea!

Heres some before and after pics. The first picture is not out of focus. Its just scuffed up so bad couldnt hardly see the coin inside. Im not done with it yet neither. Saved me from having to have it reholdered.  

[Henri Charriere]

On 12/25/2022 at 1:06 PM, Walkerfan said:

My only guess is that it is some level above 60 and that it looks better in hand.    

If it's good enough for the Walker-guy, it's good enough for me.  (I have zero expertise in this area beyond what I've heard and read.).

[numisport]

An old PCGS Pf 65 Walker is definately worth a reholder. If you spend the money for Registered postage you might consider sending it in raw. I don't think there is much to lose. You could find this coin stunning in a fresh holder. 1942 halves had more die pairs than other dates and yours looks like matched obverse/reverse earlier die strike.I always thought these haze free deep ones could get a grade bump and are definately worth more than cloudy pieces with ugly toning. 

[FlyingAl]

On 12/26/2022 at 12:29 PM, numisport said:

An old PCGS Pf 65 Walker is definately worth a reholder. If you spend the money for Registered postage you might consider sending it in raw. I don't think there is much to lose. You could find this coin stunning in a fresh holder. 1942 halves had more die pairs than other dates and yours looks like matched obverse/reverse earlier die strike.I always thought these haze free deep ones could get a grade bump and are definately worth more than cloudy pieces with ugly toning. 

While the coin is attractive, specialists in this series actually prefer older holders. It shows the coin is stable. We also know that the coins are often under graded, and will pay a premium for the coins in the older holders to account for this. 

While this coin does appear to have some frost, it is not nearly enough to consider a crack out for. It is probably in the two 20% of 1942 halves for frost, but only the top 2-3% or so actually get a premium. Coins like this aren't common, but they aren't super hard to find.

IMO, I think the best course of action would be polishing up the old holder and leaving it as it is, saving the fees for a different coin.

[Standby]

How about this.....when I get it I will polish it up and we will see if it's got a shot at an upgrade!

[Hoghead515]

On 12/26/2022 at 7:40 PM, Standby said:

How about this.....when I get it I will polish it up and we will see if it's got a shot at an upgrade!

Thats what I would do personally if it were mine. I really like the older holders myself. I really like how they were more conservative about grading in those days. Seems like most the time when I buy a coin in one of them its really nice for the grade. Im not worried about trying to make money or anything. Im more of a collector and I am very unlikely to sell any of my coins. So when I get a nice coin in an older holder I just keep it in there. Thats just my opinion and my preferances. If I were trying to flip it and make money it may be a little different. Personally I find it as a bonus to find one in an older holder. Others may have different opinions. And its yours to do whatever you like with. But if it were mine Id polish it up and keep it in there. Its been preserved in there for 30 some years. My luck Id end up scratching it or some airbore particle would contaminate it soon as I did crack it out. Whatever you choose either way you got a fine looking proof Walker. Very nice addition my friend. That would make any Walker collector happy to have in their collection. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Hoghead515

[Sandon]

   I hope that @Standby means polishing the holder, not the coin!  As PCGS would have to remove the coin from the holder if it were found worthy of upgrading and would place it in a new holder, I doubt it would make sense to attempt to improve the appearance of the holder and then resubmit the coin.

[Hoghead515]

On 12/26/2022 at 8:40 PM, Sandon said:

   I hope that @Standby means polishing the holder, not the coin!  As PCGS would have to remove the coin from the holder if it were found worthy of upgrading and would place it in a new holder, I doubt it would make sense to attempt to improve the appearance of the holder and then resubmit the coin.

He was talking about the holder. Hes talking about polishing it up where he can tell more about the coin inside. Its scratched up really bad. 

[Henri Charriere]

On 12/26/2022 at 8:48 PM, Hoghead515 said:

He was talking about the holder. Hes talking about polishing it up where he can tell more about the coin inside. Its scratched up really bad. 

And here I was getting ready to tell my wife to put away the Brillo and NOXON.  

[Hoghead515]

On 12/26/2022 at 10:09 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

And here I was getting ready to tell my wife to put away the Brillo and NOXON.  

Wasnt getting ready to put a little a little shine on those roosters was ya?

[numisport]

On 12/26/2022 at 5:27 PM, FlyingAl said:

While the coin is attractive, specialists in this series actually prefer older holders. It shows the coin is stable. We also know that the coins are often under graded, and will pay a premium for the coins in the older holders to account for this. 

While this coin does appear to have some frost, it is not nearly enough to consider a crack out for. It is probably in the two 20% of 1942 halves for frost, but only the top 2-3% or so actually get a premium. Coins like this aren't common, but they aren't super hard to find.

IMO, I think the best course of action would be polishing up the old holder and leaving it as it is, saving the fees for a different coin.

Does this mean specialists would rather have old crusty holders with an old crusty hazy toned proof Walkers in Pf 68 ? 

I prefer my clean deep mirrored Pf 67 coins in fresh new holders. Is it just me ?

[FlyingAl]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:44 AM, numisport said:

Does this mean specialists would rather have old crusty holders with an old crusty hazy toned proof Walkers in Pf 68 ? 

I prefer my clean deep mirrored Pf 67 coins in fresh new holders. Is it just me ?

Maybe, maybe not. I personally wouldn't see a difference in the OP coin and yours - except that yours might still turn due to the dip it received. I'm confident that the OP coin won't be turning. 

Specialists often prefer something original like this:

If you want to call it crusty and hazy, go for it! I'll buy it for double a blast white coin in the same grade.

Cameos are the exception, but they always are.

[numisport]

On 12/27/2022 at 12:54 PM, FlyingAl said:

Maybe, maybe not. I personally wouldn't see a difference in the OP coin and yours - except that yours might still turn due to the dip it received. I'm confident that the OP coin won't be turning. 

Specialists often prefer something original like this:

If you want to call it crusty and hazy, go for it! I'll buy it for double a blast white coin in the same grade.

Cameos are the exception, but they always are.

It's possible mine was conserved long before the OP coin was right ? 

Can you explain why you think the OP's coin won't turn ?

No straight minded person would dip out beautiful original toning on that '42.

Here's a "37 that CAC didn't like at first time around. It became a beauty after NCS conservation and now its okay for CAC.

Edited December 27, 2022 by numisport

[numisport]

On 12/27/2022 at 12:54 PM, FlyingAl said:

Maybe, maybe not. I personally wouldn't see a difference in the OP coin and yours - except that yours might still turn due to the dip it received. I'm confident that the OP coin won't be turning. 

Specialists often prefer something original like this:

If you want to call it crusty and hazy, go for it! I'll buy it for double a blast white coin in the same grade.

Cameos are the exception, but they always are.

We certainly don't refer to this kind of material as crusty or hazy and I'm confident you understand that.

[FlyingAl]

On 12/27/2022 at 12:37 PM, numisport said:

We certainly don't refer to this kind of material as crusty or hazy and I'm confident you understand that.

Of course. But many specialists prefer some originality over a dipped white coin.