Uncirculated 50c Philadelphia - Half Dollars - Grading and Values 1 1

[KevinRK]

Hi my Dad has some uncirculated 1981 half dollars and he's wondering if they're worth grading.

They have some toning that can be seen in the picture but the pictures aren't great.

The only records on NGC are two MS68 from 2011 for between 2,500 and 2,900.  PCGS has some listed at MS66 from 2020 between 43-70 and 2019 MS 67 at 640.

Can anyone give me an idea, what NGC would grade these (if the pictures are good enough)?

Any advice on whether the nicer ones are worth grading?  

Any opinions on the reason I don't see more recent sales is because demand is not there or just that they haven't shown up?

Thanks!

 

 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 9/27/2024 at 3:23 PM, KevinRK said:

Hi my Dad has some uncirculated 1981 half dollars and he's wondering if they're worth grading.

They have some toning that can be seen in the picture but the pictures aren't great.

The only records on NGC are two MS68 from 2011 for between 2,500 and 2,900.  PCGS has some listed at MS66 from 2020 between 43-70 and 2019 MS 67 at 640.

Can anyone give me an idea, what NGC would grade these (if the pictures are good enough)?

Any advice on whether the nicer ones are worth grading?  

Any opinions on the reason I don't see more recent sales is because demand is not there or just that they haven't shown up?

Thanks!

 

 

The coin pictured is not worth grading, the reverse has been severely damaged around the periphery. There are scrape marks going through "HALF DOLLAR", possibly from a rolling machine or a dryer coin, etc.. The other coins would need to be in significantly better condition to even consider having graded by a third party. Generally modern coins need to grade extremely high, 67, 68, 69, 70, to be worth the grading fees. The toning is not what I would consider attractive enough to fetch a premium and for an idea on pricing I would look at recent auction sales. NGC & PCGS price guides can give you a general idea but they can be skewed on occasion and not account for outliers.

[Sandon]

   It is extremely unlikely that any 1981-P Kennedy half dollar that your father might have saved would have sufficient value to be worth submitting to a third-party grading service, which is what I assume you mean by "worth grading". As noted by @Fenntucky Mike, the coin you selected has reverse scrapes that would likely preclude its receiving a numerical grade, much less the minimum grade of MS 66 that would be required for its market value to exceed the costs of submission. See Kennedy Half Dollars (1964-Date) | Price Guide & Values | NGC (ngccoin.com). Even without the scrape, the coin is too poorly struck--note the flatness on the shield and the eagle's neck, has too many marks, and is too dull to be a good candidate for a "gem" grade.

   The stories you read on the internet about common coins receiving high prices refer to sales of extraordinarily high-grade pieces that are seldom encountered and are sought after by registry set collectors who, in my opinion, have more money than sense. The following recent article by a well-known dealer, explains this, as well as other issues resulting from inaccurate or incomplete information on the internet: Jeff Garrett: Fake News and Misinformation in Numismatics | NGC (ngccoin.com).

   

[KevinRK]

Thanks for the responses.  When I saw the pictures he sent I wondered if he sent pictures from the wrong tube but I'll look next time I visit.  They were really some of the best looking non-proof coins I'd ever seen, the pictures do not match my memory  and he did get them directly from the bank that said they were uncirculated and they've stayed in the tube since with minimal handling.  

Back when you could get an uncirculated roll of coins from the bank what were the odds you'd get a gem quality coin in an uncirculated roll?  Just curious if it's like 1 in a million or 1 in 10 or what?  

@Sandon I don't know how google sent me to this page https://www.ngccoin.com/auction-central/us/kennedy-half-dollars-1964-date-pscid-44/auctions/1981-p-50c-ms-fgrade-68-tgrade-68-coinid-16739 when the one you linked is obviously much better, perhaps my search terms were terrible.  Thanks!

[Sandon]

On 9/27/2024 at 5:01 PM, KevinRK said:

Back when you could get an uncirculated roll of coins from the bank what were the odds you'd get a gem quality coin in an uncirculated roll?  Just curious if it's like 1 in a million or 1 in 10 or what?  

   It isn't possible to calculate such odds, but they are probably more like one out of tens of thousands!  I think that most of the MS 67 or better circulation issue coins are carefully selected from U.S. Mint uncirculated coin ("mint") sets, most of which from the 1970s and 1980s don't contain "gems" but do tend to be in better shape than coins obtained in bank rolls, which would have had more opportunities to pick up nicks and abrasions during the distribution and roll wrapping processes than "mint set" coins, which had a shorter period of bag storage before being packaged.

   Before you think about submitting coins to grading services, it is essential that you acquire sufficient grading skills yourself. Unless you are reasonably certain that a specific coin will receive a high enough grade to be worth at least several hundred dollars, it isn't worth the cost of submission.

   Your Google search somehow sent you to an outdated version of a page on the NGC website, another reason, in addition to the high level of internet misinformation, not to try to research coins through search engines. The current page, which contains sales as late as 2019, is at 1981 P 50C MS | Coin Auction Prices | NGC (ngccoin.com). You can find these records under the "Resources" tab on the NGC home page, at "Auction Results". PCGS appears to have more complete records, under "Auction Records" at the top of the PCGS home page. It is usually just better to refer to legitimate price guides, such as those also appearing on the NGC and PCGS websites.

   For legitimate print and online resources from which you can learn about U.S. coins and collecting them, see the following forum topics:

  

 

[Henri Charriere]

The following is a completely gratuitous statement that I am unable to provide any evidence, or anecdotal substantiation, in support of...

I believe the reason why there are any lesser Mint State graded coins on any census or population report of any modern coin series to begin with -- strictly IMHO! -- is because the submitter of such coins (including myself) was bereft of the requisite knowledge or experience required to make a preliminary pre-formal grading determination. What the records reflect is a trial-and-error approach tempered by the individual collector's gut instinct and wishful thinking. In effect, they were errors in judgment.