1829 half dime - Now this is eye opening!!! A horse of a different color.

ElmerFusterpuck

Not too long ago, I saw a topic about former member Dimeman was selling off a part of his collection on Great Collections, which were mostly half dimes and bust/seated dimes. I don't dabble too much in those series, but one of the coins caught my eye due to the greenish gold color and the nice look it had. I got it for a decent price and really loved it when I got it in hand. The photos I took of it are below.

Then I realized I needed to add this coin to my online inventory, so did that with my phone. When the TrueView popped up, I nearly fell down! It looked far different than what I had in hand for sure, In the PCGS photo below you can see what looks like a tiny X above the eagle's right wing. Though it's hard to see in my photo, that X is there so it's the same coin. Taking it thru an older slab made it a bit difficult too. Now I'm wondering how that blue could have turned into something way different? I have quite a few coins with that type of blue toning and it's stayed stable all this time without changing color. Maybe previous storage, maybe something else. Either way, I still love the coin, which looks far better than the XF-40 grade assigned to it especially since it has a ton of luster for that grade.

lilolme

Cool and different looking.
I am wondering - from you picture to the TV I see similarities. On both the obverse and reverse where your picture appears darkish the TV has a similar pattern that is brownish. So somewhat naturally the green corresponds to the blue. My wondering is, if the coin shifted in color that much what are the odds that the color patterns would not have shifted more. I think I do see a little blue in the reverse center in your photo?

So could some of this be due to the photo TV. Also if you put the coin into a glare position with a strong light do the colors shift a little closer to the TV? I have found on some TV that when I do this the coin looks a little more like the TV. TV taken without slab so a more direct light can be used.

Just kind of hoping that it has not changed that much.

ElmerFusterpuck

@lilolme, the coin is not even close to the TrueView, in a still image or in a video. There are very faint traces of blue on the reverse, but the prominent colors are gold and green. Below is a blue 1834 bust half I've had for quite awhile. No TrueView, but it hasn't changed at all since I've owned it. Edited to add; love the LOL response on my OP, but after seeing his posts on the board, I can see why he clicked on that response.

lilolme

@ElmerFusterpuck said:
@lilolme, the coin is not even close to the TrueView, in a still image or in a video. There are very faint traces of blue on the reverse, but the prominent colors are gold and green. Below is a blue 1834 bust half I've had for quite awhile. No TrueView, but it hasn't changed at all since I've owned it.

Hopefully it is stable. I have seen the reds on TV be stronger but not a color shift like this one. Interesting how the color change patterns are very similar so perhaps they just missed it on this one. Still trying to minimize that color change over time (more stable).

Here is one that RLsnapper posted today. Large cent and I see a lot of difference in the color. Again the reds and didn't ask what was the real color of the cent.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1093735/i-love-it-when-a-coin-looks-better-in-hand-than-pictures-or-truview-1857-small-date-lc#latest

Mr_Spud

If the color is actually got that much darker then you might want to store it in an intercept slab box and keep it in low humidity to keep the toning from going terminal. Are there any old auction images available of the same coin?

ElmerFusterpuck

@Mr_Spud said:
If the color is actually got that much darker then you might want to store it in an intercept slab box and keep it in low humidity to keep the toning from going terminal. Are there any old auction images available of the same coin?

I couldn't find any other images or evidence of this coin being in previous auctions, except for the TrueView and the current GreatCollections images.

PeakRarities

Do you have any photos of your coin in a different light? Id love to see a different set of images.

PhilLynott

It looks like there is a similar shade of blue in the shield of your picture where it's most protected I suppose so that leads me to believe your thoughts about it turning are probably true. Trueviews are glamour shots for sure sometimes but you can usually tilt and see the colors they show and doesn't look like you can with your coin here.

ricko

I would normally think the difference between the TruView and in hand, was photographic... We have seen many, many examples of that phenomena here on the forum. Cheers, RickO

logger7

Neat coin, almost looks iridescent, glow in the dark. Curious what a black light would show.