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1911-D $2 1/2 Indian

logger7logger7 Posts: 8,631 ✭✭✭✭✭

This coin was in the local shop this week:


How do you think it would grade?

The owner wanted to raise some money and was told that to get full value with an offer it would have to get graded first.

Comments

  • MeltdownMeltdown Posts: 8,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 17, 2023 11:44AM

    It looks mint state to me but those are tough to grade from a photo. Love the strike though. Headband, hair detail and cheek all look very strong.

  • dcarrdcarr Posts: 8,651 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice one.
    I think AU-58.

  • D808LFD808LF Posts: 493 ✭✭✭✭✭

    58, wear on headband/headdress and top of the eagle's wing, lack of luster for MS (difficult to gauge from pic), "D" is strong.

    fka renman95, Sep 2005, 7,000 posts

  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 13,879 ✭✭✭✭✭

    58

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,358 ✭✭✭✭✭

    AU58 but more importantly, this coin is genuine. This series has been very heavily counterfeited and many collectors won't buy them unless they've been slabbed by one of the major grading services.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • jfriedm56jfriedm56 Posts: 1,358 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Looks like an AU 58 with just a hint of light rub. Has a strong D mint mark. I believe the reference points are the obverse and reverse raised rims which your coin exhibits, so looks legit to me. Nice find.

  • SmudgeSmudge Posts: 9,594 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’m in the 58 camp. Nice 58.

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,239 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It has the wire rim on the obverse and the scallops on the reverse. Those are markers that it is genuine. It only makes you wonder why it's not certified.

    I have owned this one for many years.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • jwittenjwitten Posts: 5,211 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’ve been out of the Indian game for a bit but I also say genuine and 58ish. Don’t see it going ms but you never know. I have two weak d’s, but no strong. Nice coin!

  • The mint mark looks too strong, need to go with certification, I agree with most that, if genuine, it is probably an AU58 wingtip shows too much wear.

  • JonBrand83JonBrand83 Posts: 481 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Looks genuine with the typical markers, and not a bad one. AU58

    Jb-rarities.com
    IG: jb_rarities

  • lkeneficlkenefic Posts: 8,169 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very nice! Looks genuine to me too and I like it at 58... let us know how it turns out if it gets submitted.

    Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;

    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.
  • alaura22alaura22 Posts: 3,282 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm not a buyer unless it is slabed
    Must be a reason it's not in a slab
    Caution..............

  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 13,879 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @alaura22 said:
    I'm not a buyer unless it is slabed
    Must be a reason it's not in a slab
    Caution..............

    One reason could be that the coin simply hasn’t been submitted for grading yet. It seems like you’ve been around long enough to know that there are still a lot of valuable coins which haven’t been professionally graded yet. And quite a few of them have been shown here, from time to time.

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • lkeneficlkenefic Posts: 8,169 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 17, 2023 6:03PM

    @alaura22 said:
    I'm not a buyer unless it is slabed
    Must be a reason it's not in a slab
    Caution..............

    I completely understand not wanting to buy coins that are heavily counterfeited unless they're TPG certified. I had a little bit of a scare with my 1925-D Quarter Eagle. I purchased it raw and posted [rather poor] images that called it's authenticity into question... I sent it to our hosts and it came back AU58. I was happy to be able to breathe a sigh of relief but not before sweating for a couple of months.

    As for the reason this coin wasn't already slabbed? Who knows.... At the time, gold was trading much lower/oz and it might not have been worth it for the seller to incur the added expense of certification, so they didn't. As for the OP coin... it looks like those staples have been there for a very long time. . I wonder if someone's grandfather didn't pass away and this is how his collection was stored. I get that certification will bring more interest and thus more money at auction, but there could be any number of reasons why there are still raw coins out there.

    edited to add: this is my former raw quarter Eagle...

    Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;

    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.
  • mark_dakmark_dak Posts: 1,130 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @alaura22 said:
    I'm not a buyer unless it is slabed
    Must be a reason it's not in a slab
    Caution..............

    Unslabbed gold can be the best opportunity to pick up great deals. Personally picked up Dahlonega and Charlotte gold that came to a LCS that were raw. Judging from the pictures there's nothing screaming counterfeit to me. Noticeable wear to the right of headband would probably keep this from MS grade. I'll agree with AU58 crowd as well.

    Nice coin!

    Mark

  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 13,879 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don’t remember a thread with such uniformity in grading opinions. If I counted correctly, there’s one “mint state” opinion and (11) AU58’s.

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,358 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MFeld said:

    @alaura22 said:
    I'm not a buyer unless it is slabed
    Must be a reason it's not in a slab
    Caution..............

    One reason could be that the coin simply hasn’t been submitted for grading yet. It seems like you’ve been around long enough to know that there are still a lot of valuable coins which haven’t been professionally graded yet. And quite a few of them have been shown here, from time to time.

    The OP said he saw it in a coin shop so I assume it was for sale. Typically, a coin dealer would get an expensive key date coin such as this one slabbed to make it easier to sell and to maximize his profit.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • logger7logger7 Posts: 8,631 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The back story on this coin was that the guy said his grandfather had left the coin in an armoire and he had it and was looking to raise some money. They sent pics to one of their "experts" who believed it to be real and offered $1500 for it ungraded. The guy walked out, may have offered it to someone else.

  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 35,100 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @MFeld said:

    @alaura22 said:
    I'm not a buyer unless it is slabed
    Must be a reason it's not in a slab
    Caution..............

    One reason could be that the coin simply hasn’t been submitted for grading yet. It seems like you’ve been around long enough to know that there are still a lot of valuable coins which haven’t been professionally graded yet. And quite a few of them have been shown here, from time to time.

    The OP said he saw it in a coin shop so I assume it was for sale. Typically, a coin dealer would get an expensive key date coin such as this one slabbed to make it easier to sell and to maximize his profit.

    Not all coin dealers are heavy or even regular submitters. Then you have to factor in the time delay and added cost.

  • mark_dakmark_dak Posts: 1,130 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @logger7 said:
    The back story on this coin was that the guy said his grandfather had left the coin in an armoire and he had it and was looking to raise some money. They sent pics to one of their "experts" who believed it to be real and offered $1500 for it ungraded. The guy walked out, may have offered it to someone else.

    I Don't blame the guy for walking out.

    Mark

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