3, back to back to back, in a roll of 50, "uncirculated," Lincoln Modern 1Cs with same die crack
browntrout
Posts: 147 ✭✭
Hello, I have found three (3), back to back to back, exact same die crack errors, in a roll of 50 "uncirculated," Red, Lincoln Modern 1 C, 1963-Ds, PCGS# 2887, or ???. The error is on the Obverse, running from Lincoln's Occipital, up past the back of his ear, up to the “W” in We. Here are the images, including multiples light types. I have done my best with the zoom-ins, and marked an extra copy with a line to be clear. PCGS# 2887, MS 66 – MS 67+. I am very new to numismatics, and am trying to help a client go through their collection. I have had a hard time finding any examples of this error. The best and worst of the roll I estimated to range from MS 66 - MS 67+. I have posted other coins for opinions in the Q & A discussions as well, including the images for the two "best" and worst" of this roll. Thank you, Greg.
Comments
Interesting.
I don’t know how you roll searchers spot some of these things!?
My eyes get tired just rolling through the volumes looking for the big stuff that stands out!
Good for you though. Especially if there are others that share your appreciation and might add a premium to the issue.
Fractured skull variety attribution ahead for this one?
Pretty cool!
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
@nwcoast, you must be in WA or OR or CA, from your name here. I am in WA, originally from MN. Thank you for your comments. Do you have any comment about my grading, as I am a newbie to this? Is the term "fractured skull variety" what I should be using to try to track down other examples?
I found it, as I ma trying to help a client (I am not a coin person, but they trust me, I am an arts, antiques and antiquities specialist). I simply looked through every coin, while checking my work, and learning, learning, learning!
Thank you, Greg.
If you're looking for value, try eBay sold listings to see what similar cents with small die cracks have sold for. Expect any premium for a coin like yours to be small - it's the big and spectacular die cracks that sell for a big premium.
A search for "Cracked skull Lincoln" brought up a bunch of results:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=cracked+skull+lincoln&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1
Yes Greg @browntrout. You guessed it in that I am indeed in Washington state as well.
Welcome to the great PNW!
As @IkesT mentioned, this minor die crack may not be dramatic enough to garner much attention.
I had suspected as much but was waiting for other Lincoln Cent and error folks to chime in.
I’m sorry if I offered some false hope there if that’s the case.
The truth is, when it comes to these modern cents, finding super high grades is elusive and the costs of submission and grading these in the hopes of nailing a very high grade, is a gamble few are willing to take,
Poking around Ebay for similar items (sold sales) is a good place to start.
Hopefully some other cent folks might offer their views?
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
@IkesT, Thank you for departing your knowledge about this to me. I understand, and it makes sense. Glad to know that "Cracked Skull Lincoln" is the proper search term form you guys, I will look at your link and around a bit too. I thought it was interesting to have three in a row in the roll, obviously, they came out of the die one after another, or awfully close to it. Thanks, Greg.
@nwcoast, as you are out here in my neck of the woods, may I ask you to email me please? My email is gregcbrownassociates@gmail.com, thank you. Just let me know if the subject that it is you from the PCGS Forum. No false hopes here, hope yes, but I know what happens in the arts and antiques, and this is no exception, most things are not what one hopes for, and are not. Thank you, Greg.
@IkesT, and @nwcoast, Are my grades anywhere near accurate on these? Thank you, Greg.
It’s hard to say Greg. It looks like there’s some little hits on Lincoln’s jaw line which may hold them back.
Disclaimer though… I don’t swim in this pond of seeking out super high grades with Lincoln cents.
There are other regulars here that do. They are frequent contributors to the roll searching threds here.
Your coins look like pretty nice examples, but nailing one of those top grades is a gamble and often elusive.
Looking at PCGS CoinFacts, it appears there have only been a total of 4 pieces graded in MS-67 Red- which is the color yours are. There are zero above that.
Though those 67’s fetch a hefty premium, there are over 1000 MS-65’s which are selling for only $3-5 a piece
The MS 66’s have fetched between $39-71 apiece on EBay.
The cost of grading coins like these runs roughly $40 per coin.
Looking at the photos in CoinFacts, which I highly recommend doing if you haven’t already done so, it appears the highest coins are not perfect and yet some of the 65’s are pretty darn nice! I might venture to guess that the submitters of many of those 65 Red coins had loftier aspirations for their coins and took a calculated risk in submitting their batch.
I don’t know if I’ve been much help. It’s a start anyways.
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
@nwcoast, Thanks! Everything helps! This has been a steep learning curve, and I know it takes a long time, I can tell! I am just trying to make the right recommendations for my clients, and I am not being paid for my time, as I consider it learning right now. They asked me to help them downside their home, and then asked, along with two other clients by pure chance, to help them with their coins because they trusted me not to rip them off. So, I said let me give it the good lo' college try. So, here I am learning, and learning ,and learning! I have to give people bad news all the time, so I have no problem with people stating lower grades. I plan to meet one or two coin dealers tomorrow to have them take a look at only the best pieces out of these 600 - 800 coins. Then I will give my final recommendation to the clients on how to best proceed to sell everything, and/or if some should be graded first by PCGS, as clearly there is a premium for sales of PCGS graded coins "that are worth it!!!" Thanks, Greg.
Your cents appear to be MS65 from the pictures. In hand, it may be slightly more or less. Good luck with your project and I hope you cultivate an interest in coins - you seem to have the ability to study and become a competent grader. Cheers, RickO
@ricko, Thank you for the comments, and the compliment. I have found this very interesting, maybe because I am into deep analysis, and when I get into something, I do not like giving up until I have accomplished what I intended to, and coins seems to require that! Sincerely, Greg.
Okay, so, I am not sure if I should try to post in the buy & sell US coins area, but it looks like I need 100 posts before I can even start a new topic form what the notice says about that page. So, I will start here. I understood before I went in to the Dealer yesterday, that they would use the GreySheet/whole sale pricing to make offers from, which he did exactly that. Is that the general best pricing to expect, without piecemeal selling off a collection, which for me is large, of 600 - 800 total pieces for two customers? I know I can use coin start of the unimportant, as he put it, "gas money" coins. He also thought there were no coins to send in for grading, as you have all indicated as well. I will post this in one of the other chains I started too, thank you all. Sincerely, Greg.
Oh, and am I missing an intelligent coin selling option and/or step? Greg.
Quantity of coins is irrelevant. Wheat cents are often sold in bags of 5,000 coins ($50 face). The item being sold is "a bag", and the price is quoted for the bag as a whole.
90% silver coins are often sold in terms of their face value -- $15 face of 90% silver has a given price whether you're talking about 150 dimes or 30 half dollars or any combination.
The thing that matters when selling coins is knowing if you have anything rare, and not worrying about the common stuff.
There are unethical dealers who will offer tiny fractions of what items are worth. An honest dealer will offer honest prices. It's a plus when a dealer uses the graysheet. It's even more if a plus when they're willing to walk you through their price calculations.
Dealers don't make their living off common stuff. If you're trying to sell proof sets, any dealer can probably show you a big stack of proof sets he already has. He doesn't need yours on top of his pile. Any offer he makes will reflect how much he is interested in what you have, which is likely "not much" for common items.
Common stuff doesn't sell well on the buy & sell board here either. The cost of shipping common coins can easily exceed what the coins are worth.
If you find items that are truly rare, you can expect a different discussion. There is no cutoff for what makes an item rare... But when you have items that are only worth a few dollars, those are firmly in the "not rare" camp.
Using the Greysheet to make an offer is a reasonable approach. Based on the things you've posted, piecemeal could (perhaps) generate more income than that but the questions you have to ask are "How much more?" and "Is the extra effort worth it?"
@jonathanb, Thank you again! Great comments and lessons. I am humbled again here. I am glad to know that using the greysheet is a good thing, and that he did his calculations while I watched and gave them to me! So, both good signs. I was referred to this guy by an amateur coin and stamp guy, who was our Dive Boat Captain - very nice guy. I will be printing this set of your comments out too! Thank you so much for your open, direct and honest answers, Greg.
@MasonG, Thank you for backing up Jonathanb's comment about the greysheet. Yes, I have put a HUGE amount of learning work into this project already, and am not really interested in selling all of these over the next year or more on eBay, etc... So, the dealer may be the best place to do it. I need to get client approval first, of course! Thank you again, Greg.
I have learned that I have a better way to take the photos, thank you to nwcoast! Without his input, I would be much farther behind that I am right now - so, thank you to nwcoast! Sharing and guidance is why I am here!