What do you think of this scratched coin?

[RGT]

It seems there has been a good bit of discussion about scratched coins lately. I have been meaning to post this one for a while, so this seems like a good time.

 

I picked this one up on eBay several years ago. Back then few coins had decent pictures and many had no picture at all. I don't recall if this one had a picture but if it did, it was so small I didn't see the scratch.

 

Do you think this coin should be in a slab? What would you grade it? The coin is dark, but it does have a bit more brown tint than shows in the picture.

 

[Bruceswar]

I don't think it would slab unless ANACS slabbed it..... Net VG 10 VF Details.... maybe I am too hard, this is not my area... but I like the coin none the less... great album piece

[Mozin]

I don't see much use in submitting this one to ANACS and getting a "details" grade.

[Grumps]

All coins even scratched are collectable. You can always send it to NCS and have it details graded for conservation and have it put in a holder. Otherwise, it's similiar to the one that I have in a 2x2 in my folder that I flip through and look at for my lower grade, but desirable coins.

 

Greg

[Jazzy]

No point in submitting that one.

 

It's clearly original, and needs no TPGS authentication.

 

Remember this series was made of much purer copper than earlier large cents, so it's far more prone to erosion and damage.

[Hoot]

I don't think the coin should be slabbed, but I also don't think that most half cents and large cents should be slabbed. They are better seen and experienced out of holders.

 

The coin would get BBd by NGC or PCGS and net graded (incorrectly) by ANACS or NCS. I believe the coin is a VG10 details, G5 EAC. It's a pretty rough looking coin with the obvious scratches, a number of surface gouges, and some verdigris. It would garner a scudzy rating for appearance with EAC.

 

That said, I believe the coin is immensely collectable. It's not particularly rare (it's a C-2 [narrow date], which is an R3 - 201-600 specimens estimated extant), but it is an unusually late die state. There's evidence of heavy clashing behind Liberty's head, and the denticles fusing behind star 11 suggests a rim break in the die, which is not recorded by Manley. And although the reverse is typically weakly struck from 9-12K, your specimen looks particularly weakly struck in that area (although the wear and corrosion in that area make this a tough call).

 

All-in-all, the coin has a great deal to tell, and deserves not the insults of a slab.

 

Hoot

[EZ_E]

Those are great images! Really shows the coin well.

 

 

Whew, Mark! Sounded like you were writing a technical dissertation. You really know your stuff!

[RGT]

Thanks for the comments, especially Mark's disertation. I have books by Cohen and Breen, but I don't have the Manley book. I didn't see any mention of the rim break in either of those books. It's hard to say if the die state diagnostics match on the reverse when it's in this grade.

 

The coin does have a good number of light scratches to go with the large one on the obverse, but they all look very old. It looks worse in the picture than in hand. I don't really see any vertigris, but I'm not sure what that lime-green spot in the "N" is. The planchets these were struck on came from the bottom of the barrel and were in bad shape when struck. The reverse die was also warped which is the reason for the weakness in the upper left.

 

I was a bit purposfully vague when I asked if this should be slabbed, because it is already slabbed. I wanted opinions on the coin and not the slab. I bought this in 1998 before PCI went south, literally and figuratively. I think it has better details than their assigned grade and they seem to have net graded it but put it in the green holder. I think the old PCI did a good job normally, but I guess there are mistakes in all brands of holders.

 

[Bruceswar]

VG seems like a good net grade for this coin. It makes for a nice pickup for you Congrats

[TomB]

I like the coin very much and see really no reason for it to be in a slab. It looks as though it also has a light sheen of verdigris, but it could also be the lighting.

[RGT]

Tom,

 

I did notice that light "sheen of green" in the image myself. I checked the coin over again because I thought it looked like PVC in the image. Looking at the coin I don't really see the green. However, I believe it was Eric Tillery who mentioned once that he had cracked older PCI slabs that he believed contained PVC.

 

Now I am tempted to crack it out. I'm also tempted to just stick it on ebay and let someone else worry over it instead of me.

 

The slab or not to slab debate comes up very frequently and has been beat to death. My main reason to buy and sell mostly slabbed coins has to do with the way I am forced to buy and sell. There are only two small (25-30 table) shows in my area a year. I rely on on-line sources for the majority of my coins. I've been collecting since 1974 and I know what it's like to buy sight-unseen through the mail.

 

When I first started buying on ebay I bought mostly raw coins and I was returning 1/3 to 1/2 of them. Now I buy almost exclusively slabbed coins and have few returns. Selling is often the same way. I can usually get a decent price for a raw coin by providing a good picture and description, but I have sold coins for less than half what they would have brought in a slab.

 

I've seen the quality of raw coins that are typical on ebay. While this coin may not need to be in a slab if selling in person it is likely to do much better in the slab on ebay. I really didn't have any plans to sell this coin, but now that I have pulled it out and looked at it I realize it really doesn't fit well with the rest of my collection. Maybe this is as nice a piece as I can afford of this date, but the rest of my half cents are EF or better. I certainly will have to do some more thinking about this one.

[James_OldeTowne]

My guess is NGC and PCGS would bag this coin for the scratch(es). Also, it looks recolored to me, possibly to try and tone down the effects of the scratch (looks like classic Deller's Darkener color). If the details grade were a bit higher, say a super strong Fine or VF, then I would consider it a candidate for repair, since with copper, that kind of scratch can be filled or burnished off with relative ease.

 

However, I am also in the camp that coins like this shouldn't be encapsulated to begin with.

 

So the short answer to your question: No, this coin should not be in a slab.

 

James