GC Basal State Silver $1 in Baltimore

JimW

I stopped by the Great Collections table today, and they had what appeared to be a basal state peace $1.
It appeared to be in some type of old sealed holder with the insert being hand written in red ink (!)
I asked the guy at the table and he said it would be in an upcoming GC auction if I was interested in it.
Anyone know anything more about this coin?
Many Thanks!

Weiss

What does 'basal state' mean in coin-collecting?
By Joe O'Donnell

Published: May 13, 2014, 6 AM

This 1793 Flowing Hair, Wreath cent is an example of a worn coin that would be considered Basal State.
Coin World image

"Basal State" is a term used for coins that are of the lowest grade.

A Basal State coin is "identifiable and unmutilated, but so badly worn that only a portion of the legend or inscription is legible," according to William H. Sheldon, whose book Penny Whimsy was quoted by editor Steve Roach in a 2013 Coin World article.

Sheldon, who introduced the term, says that enough of the coin must remain for variety identification to be considered Basal State.

Basal State is used as a substitue (sic) for the term "Poor" in coin grading. Sheldon wrote that "Poor" is a difficult term to define and "often means too much."

https://www.coinworld.com/numismatic/collector-basics/what-does-basal-state-mean-in-coin-collecting.html

Smudge

I have heard them called slicks.

Weiss

Swear to god I thought the OP was talking about a city view thaler.

JimW

I should have taken a picture. I meant by basal state that it would grade a 0 as it was so worn that it was dateless and missing most other elements as well. I recall the handwritten "7355.00" as part of the label, but apparently there is no coin number at PCGS?

alefzero

I sent a basal state Morgan to DCarr to overstrike for his MMOH last year. Figured that was the best disposition. Wouldn't dream of having it slabbed or that anyone would seriously entertain throwing money at it over melt. Should be off the lowball radar IMO.

ianrussell

We'll be listing in the next week or two. It's a Peace Dollar type coin with a hand-written label in rattler holder. As the date was not readable, the PCGS # (hand-written) is for the type coin.

• Ian

Nic

@Lakesammman

JimW

Thank you @ianrussell ! I was beginning to think I was going crazy...

ricko

Definition found....
Basal - adjective
of, at, or forming the base.
forming a basis; fundamental; basic.
I had not seen that term used to describe coins before... but it fits. Cheers, RickO