(Very) Impaired Proof 1873 Seated Dollar - Ebay find
Omegaraptor
Posts: 540 ✭✭✭✭✭
Was looking at Ebay at work the week before last and saw a listing for a "worse than cull" Seated Dollar from APMEX at $139. The Ebay photo was of a holed 1873 Seated Dollar, although I know the photo APMEX uses isn't always what you actually get. Regardless, I took a chance on it - even if it's an absolute POS, for a Seated Dollar you can really only go up from $139 in terms of value.
The coin arrived a couple days ago, and I ended up receiving the coin in the picture - a holed, cleaned 1873 Seated Dollar with the sharpness of an upper VF or so. As ugly as it is, I have no right to complain about a $139 Seated Dollar, especially since it isn't even a common date. However... the surfaces looked a bit gleamy and reflective for the grade the coin was in, and it didn't look like polishing gleam.
I went on the Seated Dollar variety website and ran the variety. Date position was incorrect for 1873-CC, so on to the 1873 Philly, which used two business strike die pairs and one proof-only die pair. I learned that there is a doubled die reverse that was used on 1872 and 1873 proof strikes, and only on proofs. I checked for it, and sure enough, there's notching on IN GOD. Note the top left serif of the N in particular.
Checked the two business strike die pairs just for good measure, and neither were a match. Asked a Seated Dollar collector I frequently talk to, and he agreed that this piece is a (heavily) impaired Proof strike. So yeah, I guess I have the worst Proof Seated Dollar in existence, or something close to it. (Eh, the Gobrecht dollar with the eagle punched out is probably worse.) I may send it to our host just to get it into a PR Genuine holder - and maybe some of the holed collectors might actually like this thing.
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Comments
Super cool, love finding weird stuff like this!
Collector of Capped Bust Halves, SLQ's, Commems, and random cool stuff! @davidv_numismatics on Instagram
Good detective work!
(I checked my 1873-S, and it does not match!
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The gleam in the shield makes me think proof esp considering how under rated th BS 73 is
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Going through the process and figuring things out like this is one of the highlights of the hobby. Well done!
What an awesome get. I love it!
Amazing "cherry pick". I, too, have had a similar experience of buying a coin and only later realizing it was rarer than I had thought. Congratulations, your research paid off!
Young Numismatist • My Toned Coins
Life is roadblocks. Don't let nothing stop you, 'cause we ain't stopping. - DJ Khaled
A very neat pick. One of only 600 proofs. I would definitely get it graded.
love it when stuff like this happens
Perhaps "grandpa" was a collector, bought this proof from the mint for $1.10, and a grandkid wanted one of grandpa's coins to wear as a remembrance.