Couple early S-mint walkers - grades posted

clarkbar04

Seem to be somewhat typical in the strike department - hard to believe in the decades to come someone decided to let the S mint make proofs.

Feel free to GTG.
Both are straight graded and were bought raw.
Trueview quality seems to be improving - I still don't request them on economy orders. The 19-S is a bit dull looking compared to in-hand though a definite improvement to what I've noticed months ago, and the lighting is a bit uneven.

For what its worth these were received by PCGS 12/6 and graded 12/16 on an express order.
I also had an economy order received by PCGS 11/1 and grades posted 12/17 which was a surprise.
PCGS au55


PCGS Au58

alaura22

XF-40
VF-25

TomB

These are tricky to grade. They can come with terrible strikes and poor luster. I think the 1919-S has the feel of an AU55 while the 1920-S has the feel of an MS62. I just wish we could rotate them under a light to learn more about the surfaces.

braddick

They both appear gently cleaned- perhaps a baking soda cleaning back in the 60s and since allowed to slightly retone. Would probably still grade yet I wouldn't be shocked if PCGS leaned the other way.

coinkat

Not original surfaces… the 19-s is likely 50 but could go 45 and the 20-s is better and likely a 55 but could 53. Hard to handicap these based solely on the images.

relicsncoins

45 and 55 are my guesses.

breakdown

Tomb is correct. A poor strike is easily confused with wear on many early Walkers. I thought the only place that clearly looks like wear on the 19-S is Liberty’s lower leg. I will guess 58.
On the 20-S, I think I see wear on central obverse with more luster. I will guess 58 here as well.

jfriedm56

AU58. MS62.

Walkerguy21D

AU50, shot 53 if the luster is better in hand, as the OP suggests.
The 20S is really tough to grade; it's a minimum 58, but more likely MS62.

Both are highly unusual to find raw in this day and age. These were seldom seen coins at these grade levels even back in the 1980's.

ThreeCentSilverFL

I’ll go with XF45 and AU55

clarkbar04

I get the coins back from PCGS later today - i'll post in-hand slab photos in the thread.
I don't agree they are cleaned - or i wouldn't have sent them in, but I am not surprised based on the quality of the photo of the '19. It was in a really old coin envelope with a grade of "XF" written on it by hand.
Nobody is 100% correct so far - i'll post my thoughts on that later with the in-hand photos.

Walkerfan

XF 45
AU 55

clarkbar04

Here's my thru the slab shot of both, which graded as expected.
In hand the 20-S looks much more convincing as "original surfaces" than the trueview, and I think more common dates & mints this would be a 62 but the value change from 58 to 62 doesn't warrant another trip in. Just the slightest bit of friction on this. Looks like a CACable 58.
PCGS AU58

Compare the surface appearance of this obverse to the trueview and I'm not shocked some thought perhaps cleaned.
PCGS AU55

coinkat

Finding these early Walkers in this grade is very challenging. Taking pictures that truly capture the coin is equally if not even more challenging. I suspect both coins look better in hand-especially the 20-s. congrats

breakdown

I like the look of the 19-S better, and it does not look cleaned to me. It has subdued luster likely due to toning that appears pretty natural to me.
The look of the 20-S is familiar to people that collect early Walkers- you also see it in some commems from the twenties and thirties. A more "metallic" look for want of a better term.
Thanks for posting this thread - the early Walkers are special creatures.
Even though I sold my set in 2016, I still find myself looking at the early Walkers for each new major auction.

clarkbar04

@breakdown said:
I like the look of the 19-S better, and it does not look cleaned to me. It has subdued luster likely due to toning that appears pretty natural to me.
The look of the 20-S is familiar to people that collect early Walkers- you also see it in some commems from the twenties and thirties. A more "metallic" look for want of a better term.
Thanks for posting this thread - the early Walkers are special creatures.
Even though I sold my set in 2016, I still find myself looking at the early Walkers for each new major auction.

Thanks. Over the years I have managed to find a small handful of high grade early walkers. Most recent (prior to these) was a 1919-D which graded AU58 & CAC. I really like the 16-17 years with the matte/pebbled fields.