Grade this Peace Dollar

[RGT]

I didn't spend a lot of time on the pics but I think they represent the coin well. The chatter on the eagle shows up in the image about like it does in hand..

 

[Hoot]

I'd call it an AU62 and a great album coin.

 

Hoot

[Bruceswar]

AU58, but its in an MS slab.. but I hope not.. on a side note am I seeing hairlines or is that the photo?

[James_OldeTowne]

AU-55. I think you've captured the luster pretty well, and it indicates a lightly circulated coin.

 

James

[jtryka]

I agree with James, AU-55, and that is great for this coin!

[RGT]

Thanks for the replies. What promped me to post this was an auction on ebay by Russ across the street for a "similar" coin. Here is the picture I stole from his auction.

 

 

Would you believe both of these coins were graded EF-45 by NGC? Fortunately for me I bought mine eight years ago and paid a fair EF-45 price at that time. The one Russ auctioned didn't meet reserve and was bid up to less than I paid for mine eight years ago.

 

When I saw the ebay coin I thought it looked more like a nice VF. So, I pulled mine out and thought it should grade at least AU-50. There's quite a price jump for this date at that level. Sometimes it pays to own the "right" EF-45.

[MAULEMALL]

Man Russ's pics are getting to the point that he should be making some money off of them.

I think he could give some classes to some of the auction houses.

[RGT]

I didn't get too many coments on this when I first posted it, but I am going to update anyway. This coin was also included in my recent submission to ANACS that I mentioned in the bust half dime post. I cracked it out of the NGC holder and submitted it raw. ANACS called it AU58 Details, Cleaned.

 

Looking at the coin in hand I think my pictures make it look a bit better than it is. Maybe I can get a better image if I decide it's worth it. I was expecting a grade between AU50 and AU55 but it never crossed my mind that they would call it cleaned.

 

This makes the second coin that I have cracked out of an NGC holder that ANACS has called cleaned. I don't believe either of them were cleaned. Bruce asked something about hairlines that I seem to have not answered. I don't see anything in the photos that he might be refering to and I don't see anything on the coin that would be anything more than minor hairlining from circulation. Bruce, what areas were you refering to?

 

In the past I have had issues with AU coins in ANACS holders that I thought were cleaned but not noted on the slab. It seems to me that ANACS has gone overboard in correcting that issue and is calling coins cleaned that are not cleaned or so lightly cleaned as to be acceptable by NGC, PCGS and most collectors. But even more confusing to me is that I have seen a few coins in the new holders that really do appear cleaned from the images on eBay or Heritage. Of course, judging from an image is prone to error.

 

As a side note, I also cracked out three peace dollars from old green PCI holders that all crossed at the same grade.

[James_OldeTowne]

Is it for sale?

[TomB]

To tell you the truth, the second coin is the one that I would pay more to own even if it might have slightly less detail than the first.

[RGT]

Sorry James, this one is part of my wife's Peace Dollar set that I helped her put together a few years ago. It was the only slabbed coin and the only one below AU, at least according to NGC. With the current price of these in AU I think I will have to keep this one in the set because I can't afford to replace it.

 

To tell you the truth, the second coin is the one that I would pay more to own even if it might have slightly less detail than the first.

 

Tom, I could understand that if it were an 1834 coin, but I don't have a problem with white peace dollars. I also think the second coin has a good bit less detail than mine and no luster. Is there something you see in my coin's image that makes you think the coin is cleaned, or what is it that you don't like about it?

[TomB]

It's simply a personal preference. One reason that I generally don't buy AU or high end EF coinage is that I dislike the combination of significant remaining luster with obvious wear that most AU or high end EF coins possess, as per the definitions of the grade. Therefore, I prefer coins below this grade range or that have a thick skin that mutes most of the reflected light.

[RGT]

Upon closer examination of the coin I noticed some surface properties that I had not noticed before. If you look at the original picture you can see some light brown tone near the bottom of the obverse. When I look at this with the light hitting at more of glancing angle instead of more direct this tone looks more like a haze. I've tried to capture it in the image below.

 

Any ideas if this is the remains of something that someone tried to dip off?