GTG AU liberty seated quarters - grades posted
Crepidodera
Posts: 363 ✭✭✭✭✭
Each of the four AU grades (50,53,55,58) are represented by these examples. Match the coins to the proper grade. All coins are PCGS CAC.
3
Comments
58,50,55,53
50,53,58,55
50,53,55,58
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
55, 53, 50, 58.
Type collector, mainly into Seated. -formerly Ownerofawheatiehorde. Good BST transactions with: mirabela, OKCC, MICHAELDIXON, Gerard
58, 50, 53, 55.
50, 53, 55, 58
58, 50, 55, 53
Those are what I think the assigned grades are. By my own standards the grades would be 55, 50, 53. 50.
58, 53, 50, 55
All are quite lovely regardless - you have good taste!!
58, 53, 50, 55
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Thank you!
I just realized no one has this correct yet, including me.
I'll try a second guess - 53,50,58,55
I am no expert and will admit that the specific date can make a difference in the grade for me.
I think the first coin the 49 is AU-50
I think the 1878-cc is an AU-55. But in part because I spent many years looking for that date and found it a poorly struck coin that often had issues.
I think the 1890 is the AU-58 but could very easily be wrong having never owned the date.
I gave the 1891-s AU-53 because that is a date I often see in great condition (many prooflike) so I think it is harder to get a higher grade.
just my thoughts and i am no expert. James
Doug definitely has an eye for originality. So far I've mostly avoided the AU grade for my set (I only have 2 total), but I'd buy them all day if they looked like Doug's coins.
Thanks for the kind words Don!
50, 58, 55, 53 is my guess - but we're really splitting hairs!
You're right, grading original AU liberty seated quarters is "like splitting hairs."
@rhedden was also the only person to guess the grades of two coins correctly.
The grades are: 1849 - AU53, 1878-CC - AU58, 1890 - AU55, 1891-S - AU50.
It was interesting that the lowest graded coin - the 1891-S, had the highest average grade estimate at 55.08!
And the highest graded coin - the 1878-CC, had the lowest average grade estimate at 52.58!
Thanks for all the guesses everyone.
Doug
Just goes to show how much we know about grading this difficult series
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
I figured the 1849 got net-graded a bit because of the hidden hairline on the eagle's leg/lower shield, but I dropped it all the way to 50. The 1878-cc AU58 was the easiest for me out of the four because it has just a trace of wear on the head and edges of the eagle's wings. The 1891-S may be slightly undergraded at AU50.
Opinions do vary and this exercise just places emphasis on that fact.
this was fun. I suppose I should be chagrined to be wrong but in fact I think the grades support my theory. In my opinion the 1878-cc is by far the hardest coin to find nice. I spent at least 15 years and looked at at least a hundred coins to find an attractive one. Likewise, the 1891-s seems to be the 1881-s Morgan of Seated quarters. I will explain in case you don't pay attention to Morgans. A number of years back at a family gathering they asked to see some coins. I took out a slab book that had about 3 dozen Morgans in it. I explained the basics of grading and the significance of the numbers on the slabs. After only a few minutes several of them declared the hobby didn't make sense. Steve said, "This coin is the shiniest, has no marks I can see and I think I could use it to shave but it has the lowest number on it!" An 1881-s of course.
What I would like to hear though is what does anyone here think makes one coin a 50 and another a 53. I can say in truth I am often mystified. Case in point. In last weeks Heritage Tuesday auction there were 2 1891 Seated Halves. The 50 was by far the superior coin and I wasn't even slightly surprised to see the 50 sell for more than the 53. I would like to say that was the exception but I see it all to often. James
James,
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree with you that the difference between AU50 and AU53 is negligible. The same can be said of AU55/AU58. If I have a coin that I love and submit it for grading, I don't really care if it slightly misses my grading expectation. I think if the four liberty seated quarters I posted were all PCGS55 CAC, no one would protest. JA has even commented about the need for the AU53 grade.
Doug
Thank you TPGs for reaffirming and legitimizing the omnipresent activity of splitting hairs, in the marketplace of rare US classic and modern coin collecting.
You are so right Crepidodera. If you had posted these and said they were all graded 55 I would have believed you. All four are strong coins. thanks for the grading challenge though. James