Rainbow Liberty Nickel

Morganluver

What do you guys and gals think of this toned 1910 Liberty Nickel? It's one of the most interesting I've encountered. Sorry, I don't know how to link, but the item # is 802464128. Thanks.

KlectorKid

linky

braddick

Outstanding Eye Appeal on that coin!
I'm curious as to your statement about PCI? The jury is still out for me, but would you detail your thoughts a bit more?

IrishMike

I just bought a 1895 which is the twin to this one, but my nikon is hosed again. The toning on those nickels can be gorgeous.1902. The 1895 is very similar to the 1910 you linked.

Morganluver

KlectorKid, thanks for the link.

Braddick,

I'm basing my statements partly on what I've seen and partly on what I've heard recently. PCI did apparently "loosen" up on grading after they changed hands but they also became aware of the negative feedback for this lapse in creditability and have taken steps to get back to where they once were. Where they were, IMO, was a service that for the most part graded properly and in many cases conservatively, based on my personal viewing, crossover and crackout experience. As many have already said, and I include myself, one should but the "coin" and not the holder. While I can understand( but not necessarily agree with) the changing trends and tendencies of the various grading services, I always try to pick through and find the coins that have been graded properly or undergraded in any services holder. They are out there and I don't think it would be very prudent of me to assume that just because a coin isn't in a PCGS or NGC holder that it couldn't be properly graded or even undergraded. I look at "everything" as if it were not even in a holder and I wish PCGS would do the same.

kryptonitecomics

Beautiful coin. I can attest as to the accuracy of the grading since it's in a PCI slab, but the eye appeal is all there!!!

braddick

I had read the same thing, I just couldn't recall where. Apparently PCI was embarrassed by the bad press and a little ticked off they were getting beat and slammed on all these bulletin boards and have since tightened up.
The only problem is they're still using the gold bordered slab and there is no way, short of looking at the coin, if it is "right" or not.

Elcontador

That 1910 Nickel has nice eye appeal, but that's about it. Miss Liberty's face is pockmarked, there is a fingerprint around the date, and there is a large carbon spot around star 1 (and a smaller one in the field). The strike of the coin is bad; lots of soft stars, and missing hair detail. It's not a 4 to me.

jom

Who cares who graded it? Just treat as if you were buying a raw coin. Looks nice to me from the picture....

jom

Placid

Am I the only one not seeing rainbow colors? I just see gold toning.

kieferscoins

There is gold toning, but from the picture I don't see rainbow toning either.

Cameron Kiefer

Elcontador

If you really want a nice Liberty Nickel, be more patient and be willing to spend a bit more money. There aren't many "nice for the grade" Liberty Nickels out there. However, since this last June -- starting with the Superior Auction -- they seem to be available now. I've seen more nice ones since June than in the two years preceding June 2002.

Placid

I read the whole auction and the rainbow is what the seller is calling the shape of the toning.
I call that type cresent.

Morganluver

Thank you all for your comments and based on these comments I feel that I need to clarify a few things. First, the strike is somewhat weak as stated, mainly in the hair detail, but the stars are not really weak as a couple of them in the scan may indicate. Secondly, I'm not sure where you see "pockmarks" on the cheek as there are none. Thirdly, it's not a classic rainbow relative to the spectrum, but it does have some nice delineated pastel rainbow colors, that didn't show very well in the scan, on both sides. In fact, I neglected to include in my description the arc of pastel baby blue separating the purple/mauve(it's not Nickel color) from the gold(which is actually a golden-orange) Fourth, there are absolutely no finger prints on this coin. The area around the date has a somewhat grainy metal flow texture, I suspect from lack of striking pressure. I know that there are many much nicer toned V Nickels out there,(certainly more expensive ones) but what impresses me about this coin is the very unusual pattern of the pastel rainbow and the extreme luster(much more pronounced than the scan shows) on both sides of this coin. The "only" negative I see on this coin is the striking weakness, however, as I said before, I think the pretty colors coupled with a very unusual pattern and the extraordinary luster more than make up for this aspect. I really appreciate you folks taking the time to look at and comment on this coin and I hope I've been able to clear up some of the misconceptions(probably scan based) about it. Thanks.

Elcontador

Morganluver,

If you look about half-way between the ear and Miss Liberty's nose, you'll notice what appear to be a bunch of white dots that are different from the color of this area of the coin. To me, this looks like a number of minor but noticeable contact marks. The first thing I look for when looking at a Liberty Nickel is marks on Miss Liberty's face and hair.

Morganluver

Elcontador

I think I see what you mean in the enlarged scan. I can see those spots with a 12X loupe and they are just tiny anomalies in the purple/mauve toning. However, there are a couple of actual tics around the eye, but those faint light gold spots are not marks on the surface.

Bikingnut

Looks nice, but I have one like it with a little blue also that was body bagged the first time I sent it in for AT. It's in now for a second opinion. Take a look at the 1886 in the Heritage auction this week. That one is really interesting.

sinin1

nice coin morganluver - if it does not meet your reserve you can keep it a couple years and sell it for more

I hate to criticize so I will suggest -> not everyone has T1 or cable or satelite, etc. for internet connections -> this makes it difficult for people with lowly 56K modem connections to see auctions that have a lot of CRAP like waving flags rotating email insignia's, etc.

As a buyer I do not get impressed with anything that takes more than 15 seconds for me to see -> what's that old saying KISS? use whatever you want for the last S. What really annoys me is when some fancy HTML stuff that is immaterial to what is being auctioned holds me 'hostage' and makes it difficult for me to leave.

Just my humble opinion as someone who both buys and sells, for what it is worth.

Ebay is even starting to slow down their auctions with links - as if they do not make enough -> I'm starting to do more with YAHOO because of this.

BigD5

I'll telly ya, Liberty Nickels are tough. Most of the time they come in a ddull gray color, or our famous "urine" yellow toned look.
The eye appeal on this coin is good, but the strike is way too weak to be considered an ms/64 example. I don' know if that much matters with this coin though. The "look" of the coin may be worth more than a lot of ms/64 pieces.
Pretty coin.

dbldie55

There is way to much hype in this auction (as well as an un-detailed image) to make me even think of bidding more than Au money. Hope who ever gets it is happy as there are many great deals to be had in sub-standard holder coins. This one seems like it is there for a reason.