shipwreck 1 1

[R.D. KNIGHT]

I have a graded 1853 r & a 50 cent shipwreck w/ an (A) AU designation and I can not find the grading chart for this designation? What is the meaning of this grade?? and I can not find any kind of valuation. It is from the USS Republic. any help would be appreciated.

[Sandon]

   The NGC webpage to which I provided a link in your post on the NGC Registry forum provides a detailed explanation of the "Shipwreck Effect" grading system that NGC uses to evaluate coins recovered from shipwrecks that exhibit damage from exposure to seawater, shifting sands, and/or other environmental elements.  Here it is again: Shipwreck Coin Effect Designation Guide | NGC (ngccoin.com).  As stated on that page, a shipwreck coin designated "A" is defined as "a coin exhibiting minimal surface disturbance from saltwater exposure and exhibiting superior eye appeal for a shipwreck artifact." The "AU" means that the coin has the details of an About Uncirculated coin.

   If your coin had been submitted to NGC without being provenanced to a known shipwreck, it would have been graded "AU details" and given a qualifier such as "Environmental Damage" or "Corrosion". Such pieces are regarded by collectors as "problem coins" and trade at a discount to the prices indicated in price guides for unimpaired pieces in the same adjectival grades. An unimpaired 1853 Arrows & Rays Liberty Seated half dollar lists $635 (retail) in AU 50 grade in the NGC Price Guide.  The amount of discount to this price that a specific buyer would be willing to pay varies with the severity of the impairment and the preferences of that buyer. Discounts of 30-50% are not unusual for even moderately impaired coins.

   A coin provenanced to a well-known shipwreck such as the S.S. Republic may command a premium in the marketplace from collectors of shipwreck artifacts, many of whom know little or nothing about coins.  These impaired silver coins have been hyped by mass marketers who sold them for substantially more than the coins would have been worth without the shipwreck provenance.  I do not know whether they would realize such prices in the aftermarket. To my knowledge, there are no price guides specifically for impaired coins salvaged from shipwrecks, whether encapsulated by NGC under its "Shipwreck Effect" designations or otherwise.  You may find records of specific sales in the archives of major numismatic auction houses such as (in alphabetical order) Goldberg (goldbergcoins.com), Great Collections (greatcollections.com), Heritage (ha.com), and Stacks Bowers (stacksbowers.com).

    It might be helpful if you could post clear, cropped photos of each side of your coin.  

[powermad5000]

I bought a Liberty Seated half dollar from the S.S. Republic Shipwreck. It is uncirculated but is simply labelled Shipwreck Effect. There is no grade offering on the label. I paid higher than price guide value basically for the provenance of the shipwreck, but also because the coin in the holder I bought was substantially less impaired than others being sold at the same time. The coin in the holder is uncirculated and has very minimal saltwater damage and the rest of the details are fantastic. If the coin was not ocean submerged it most likely would have graded as MS 65 (based solely on wear - it would be impossible to determine any distracting marks after the saltwater damage). There were other S.S. Republic coins up for sale at the same time I bought mine and the prices varied due to different levels of the ocean water damage to the surface of the coin as well as to the overall details of the coin. Not all the coins in the shipwreck were uncirculated. Some might buy the coin based solely on the shipwreck provenance, but it seemed to me that there was a wide range of prices due to the quality of the coin in the holder and how much damage it actually had.

[R.D. KNIGHT]

Yes I have collected since age 7 and I have a large collection. The prices were all over the place. I found mine on line and ended  in negotiation from dealer in Calif. Paid $750 leather book and all. I was fascinated with the grade ! I have never seen one like anywhere on the net ! Thats why ( after years) wanted to find out it really meant ! I have asked NGC to let me know about their grade. One person said the (A) meant like top of of the pile.LOL an the AU about about circulated> I am hoping to hear from NGC .

[Coinbuf]

On 6/4/2023 at 5:47 PM, R.D. KNIGHT said:

Yes I have collected since age 7 and I have a large collection. The prices were all over the place. I found mine on line and ended  in negotiation from dealer in Calif. Paid $750 leather book and all. I was fascinated with the grade ! I have never seen one like anywhere on the net ! Thats why ( after years) wanted to find out it really meant ! I have asked NGC to let me know about their grade. One person said the (A) meant like top of of the pile.LOL an the AU about about circulated> I am hoping to hear from NGC .

As already explained the "A" designates your coin as having minimal detrimental effects of the time it spent in the ocean, I would not consider this to be "top of the pile" as you say but rather in better condition with less saltwater corrosion than most of the coins recovered from the wreck.   NGC grouped the coins into A thru E and a group simply called shipwreck effect.   A coins being considered the best coins and the remailing coins in lesser (more impaired) condition with the coins designated as shipwreck effect only the very worst of the coins recovered.  All of this is spelled out for you if you take the time to click the link Sandon provided for you.

And the AU does stand for about uncirculated, if it were not an impaired coin it would have received a grade between AU50 and AU58.   As you say you are an experienced collector you should already know what the AU stands for and I am rather puzzled at your confusion on this point.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Coinbuf

[Sandon]

   I don't know what your coin looks like, but most of the shipwreck certified coins I have seen have rough or "porous" surfaces and an unnatural whiteness from the "conservation" process used to remove surface adhesions and grime.  (If you can't photograph the coin but can give us the serial number on the NGC holder, we should be able to see the NGC photos on NGC certificate verification.) I happen to own an unimpaired 1853 Arrows & Rays half dollar graded XF 45 (just short of AU) by PCGS, which cost me a few years ago around one third of what you paid for this shipwreck artifact. This is what they look like with original surfaces: