1909 S VDB found!
Davekatz
Posts: 5 ✭
Hi All,
I am an avid metal detector user and found a 1909 S VDB cent in the lake where I live. The obverse is fairly worn but the reverse has very good detail. You can clearly ID it as a 1909 S VDB. The question I have is is it worth grading? I am not interested in selling it right now and don't need the money so is grading still advised. I would not call myself a numismatists and don't know enough to make an informed decision so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
0
Comments
Gotta have pics to tell ya.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Dave:
Any genuine 1909-S VDB in any condition is worth getting graded; that's how iconic and popular that coin is.
Congratulations, I hope, but not much help without photos. Copy photo and paste.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
That's a really good metal detecting find!
Collector, occasional seller
Environmental damage reduces the value. I would leave as is and use it as a filler in an album. At least until I found a better one to replace it with.
bob
If you found one that is genuine... fantastic find!
Honest question... and no offense meant... but if you do not consider yourself a numismatist, and are not knowledgeable enough to make an informed decision.... how do you know it is even genuine?
The forum members here can give you the straight info on the coin... but need to see photos to see what it really is. If genuine, yes, could be worth getting it slabbed.
And yes... welcome to the forum! Best place ever to get your questions answered about coins!
If you are not looking to sell it I would not be in any hurry to spend the money to have it graded, given where you found it the chances are likely that the coin would grade as a details coin anyway.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Interesting find. When you say you "found it IN a lake" are you doing underwater metal detecting? That always intrigued me but I never took the next step to actually start doing that myself. I stop at the beaches - LOL!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
If someone threw it into the lake within the last 10 years or so, per your description of the condition of the coin, chances are it's a replica or counterfeit. Let the pros in this forum, take a look at a scan.
Welcome to the forum!
The last person that had it found out it was a counterfeit after posting it here and threw it in the lake.
Welcome to the forum! Awesome first post... I hope it pans out.
As others have already said, pictures would be very helpful.
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Nice story. No backup.
Pete
Just toss it back - it’s no good
i've found thousands of coins with my White's V3i and not a single one was worth grading. Some nice silver and colonial copper, but put it in your treasure box and tell some stories...
Congrats! That's a great MD find.
Folks here can help determine if the coin is genuine (there are many fakes) if you can provide pictures. Also, in which state did you find the 1909S VBD? I would expect a find like that to be from out west.
I would expect to find it in a circulated state. And a state of amazement.
Sounds good
LOL!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Here are the pics. We are in a horrible drought so our lake level is the lowest it has been in 50 years. I also found tons of silver coins and rings at old swim areas!
Definitely worth getting slabbed in my opinion. Looks like a fairly decent coin.......and worth several hundred bucks at a minimum~ Congratulations!
That is horrible advice. The coin will not straight grade in that condition. The surface condition will make this coin undesirable by most if not all.
Take a look at the picture below
On a 1909 S VDB, the period after the D is halfway between the D and B.
check where yours is.
Looks like it was AU-ish when it was dropped in the lake.
Collector, occasional seller
Good eye MsMorrisine ... looks like it may be fake.
What MD are you using? CU also has a metal detecting board here. The folks there would love to hear about this 09SVDB and other finds you've made underwater.
It needs to be authenticated. If genuine it will still have budget collectors who will want it.
Nice find. With the surface issues I doubt I would submit for grading unless I was concerned about authenticity and I was adding it to a submission that was already going in. The base fees and membership needed to submit one coin are pretty high. Other than the surface corrosion it looks good to me.
No way that gets a straight grade, but probably worth getting graded just for the genuine verification.
Honestly, I wouldn't expect it to get a grade only that it's genuine. I know it's going to make all of you coin collectors sick but I didn't know I found it until after I took it out of the rock tumbler and was sorting through the coins. (Told ya!) I was tumbling about $50 in change and there were 50 or more wheat cents mixed in when I saw it. Can you say improperly cleaned? Yup! As I said, I am not a coin collector, I just like old stuff and never dreamed I would find a really rare coin. I really like Jessewvu's advise of just keeping in a treasure box and telling a good story about finding it. Thats way more my style.
What are you talking about? MsMorrisine told him to check the period because its not something anyone can see on the pics. She did not say it was in the wrong place.
My Early Large Cents
Obviously it won't straight grade, but I still think there's value in getting it authenticated. Although it's not a piece I would buy, I think theres value to a lowball collector putting a set together from circulated coins, and Lincoln Cents are among the most popular sets to put together...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
I agree. Details-graded specimens are bringing several hundred dollars each on eBay. I would guess that the details on the OP's coin (if genuine) would be VF or so.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
I agree. I think its just an environmentally damaged but authentic coin. Still has decent value imo as it was not widely circulated before it fell into the water and is rather sharp despite the surfaces. The story behind its discovery is a cool one, too.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
One way to find out if it's genuine... send it in for authentication. From the photos posted, period may be off centered. Though it is hard to tell. Just my opinion. Again, sending in for authentication is the way to go. If it's genuine, it will be worth the cost. Hope that makes it a little more clear to you what I'm talking about.
You should post this on treasurenet. It may be a banner find!
I would send it in for PCGS to slab just to commemorate such an unlikely and awesome find.
Congrats 👏
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
@Davekatz .... Welcome aboard. That is a really great find... And although the pictures are not quite ideal, it does look authentic. If I found it, I would have it slabbed for authenticity... It will be 'details' due to environmental (and rock tumbler) damage. Good luck and let us know what you do. Cheers, RickO
Great find. Lot's of old relics turning up near rivers and lakes at historic low levels out in the west.
100% Positive BST transactions
You would be surprised. I've seen worse sell for a couple Benjamins!
Who, in their right mind, would buy an unslabbed SVDB? There is always demand for this coin - straight graded or not. Put those two things together and one must conclude: if the OP wishes to sell the coin, get it slabbed.
Smitten with DBLCs.
Toss it back to where it came from.
Interesting. I've seen coins I wouldn't pay 5 cents for that are worth $1,000's................and you can BARELY and I mean BARELY read them or tell what they are. If this person was to sell it, what would YOU give them? Value is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen "proof" slabbed coins by PCGS that look like garbage too, but some people are willing to pay a lot of money for a graded vs ungraded coin. JMHO
Okay.............BUUUUUUT..........and I've seen this often..........it will eventually be overlooked as a common wheat leaf penny and sold for a few cents......It will fall in the hands of someone who has ZERO idea what it COULD be worth. I just had a neighbor sell (and yes, this IS true since I know the parties very well) 600 Hummel figurines....many very old, from a lady who passed away in our complex. He got...........$500 for the entire lot......having had ZERO idea they were probably worth $10's of $1,000's! Also saw a coin dealer give a lady $200 for a 1911D $2.50 Indian Head gold coin. He laughed when she left and said "she was happy to get the melt value (at the time) and had NO IDEA what she had." Sad in my opinion.
While plenty of people in their right minds would buy an un-slabbed SVDB, many others would pass. So it wouldn’t be horrible advice, at all, to get it authenticated. And that’s even though it wouldn’t straight-grade or be desirable to a large percentage of potential buyers. Still, prior to submitting the coin for authentication, I’d find someone knowledgeable to check it out, sight-seen, and offer a preliminary opinion.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
PCGS lists a recent NGC auction of one graded a "Good 6" that sold for $599. To the "nay sayers" I again say I'd get it slabbed.........and he'll still make a few hundred percent on it after costs in my opinion. Flame away! LOL
i would look at pcgs coinfacts and compare the hallmarks of this coin to and authentic one, mainly the mint mark positions and
v.d.b.characteristics. try to determine if the example you are looking at can be eliminated as genuine based on those hallmarks.if you think it matches what you see on authentic examples, it's worth submitting for certifying its authenticity only. the coin is not gradable because it has rim damage and environmental damage.
based on the photos, i can't tell. part of me says if the mint mark stayed on the coin that long it might be real. the other part of me says maybe it ended up in the lake because someone found out it was counterfeit (after they paid to much for it) and they chucked the coin in the lake out of frustration.
finding any coin when metal detecting is fun! nice work
I'd play the authentication card first.
A co-worker of mine maintains a fish tank partially filled with all of the coins from his decade-plus of Metal Detecting. One day he came to work with a coin and a story. He was excited to share that he had found a Barber Half in an area of a local park (founded circa 1903) that was freshly cleared for some building project. He knew where to look. He was not a coin collector and didn't know what to call it numismatically, but he loved finding 'treasures' for his tank. My opinion is ... you don't need a plastic holder to tell your story. Ask a dealer or a knowledgeable collector about authenticity and add that to your story.
Matt Snebold