In Praise of AU58; or “Warning Track Power”

pmh1nic · November 12, 2023 11:28AM

@124Spider said:
I have always liked coin collecting, starting in the early 1960s as a little kid taking coins out of change. It was a good time to be doing so, since there still were all sorts of interesting coins in general circulation: Steel cents; silver nickels; buffalo nickels; Mercury dimes; standing Liberty quarters; walking Liberty half dollars (though the Whitman folder called them “Liberty Standing Half Dollars”), and Franklin half dollars (not to mention that all dimes, quarters and half dollars were silver). I never had money to buy coins, but it was enough fun to check change for a new slot filler.

Life got in the way for decades, once I was well into high school; then too many years of college, followed by jobs and raising kids.

After the kids were done with college (and we were done paying for college), there finally was time—and money—for collecting coins again. Getting interesting coins out of change no longer was realistic, but buying coins now was possible.

But on a budget, as generous as that budget has been.

And one result of being on a budget is that I’ve fallen in love with AU58 coins (especially AU58/CAC coins). A clean AU58 coin can be virtually indistinguishable from a mint state coin, and is often at least vaguely affordable even for many (not all!) better dates, whereas mint state copies of the better dates often are way out of my reach. “Warning track power” is an allusion to a baseball player hitting a long fly ball that doesn’t quite leave the park; not Ruthian power, but not bad.

And, yes, I do understand how privileged I am to be able to swim in the semi-deep end; I don’t at all feel sorry for myself for not being able to “compete” in the set registry game. Yes, it would be cool to be able to buy some coins I lust after but simply cannot justify buying; but I gaze in wonder at what I have, which would have astounded my 10-year old self. And I love seeing all those pretty AU58 coins when I look through my collection (my first certified AU58 coin purchase was scratching a life-long itch to own a 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent, and that coin still gives me a great big smile every time I look at it).

The end.

When I first started collecting grading was such that an AU-58 coin was a very nice coin because in addition to the standard being very slight wear the surface condition of the coin (absence of dings, scratches, etc.) was a consideration in awarding the 58 grade. Unfortunately (in my opinion) when I returned to collecting the standards for receiving the grade had changed with wear being the primary consideration. Unlike the past (and still true for MS coins) you have no clue what the eye appeal of a AU coin will be or how it compares with a 53 coin simply because it has the 58 grade.