Please help me grade this Stone Mountain

Neptune

I am having a difficult time trying to grade this coin. If anyone knows of a URL/link to assist me, would you please provide it. My son is selling his coins, and although, I am buying some of them from him (including this one) - I want to give him fair market value. The elbow and eagle's breast does look a little worn (as I read in grading book), so I am quite sure it is not AU.

I would appreciate any tips and/or other things to look for to help me grade this coins. The coin does not 'appear' to have been cleaned, and toning does look natural -- It has darker toning around the edges. My 'uneducated' guess would be EF.

Also what would you say the fair market value would be for this coin. I can't get the photo any bigger without blurring it. Thanks in advance for your time.

Stone Mt. Obverse

Stone Mt. - Reverse

Russ

My uneducated guess is the same as yours, high EF range. Cool coin, I really like these.

Russ, NCNE

stujoe

I would say EF40. Probably in the $30 range although not positive on the price for circs.

XpipedreamR

I think it's a little too worn for EF. Maybe VF30-35ish. I see a pretty good amount of wear on the coin.

wingedliberty

EF45 cleaned

jdimmick

Too much wear for Xf IMO,
looks more like Vf-30/35 range.

Neptune

Winged Liberty - could you please tell me how you can spot the "cleaning", as I am new at this and would like to learn/know for future reference. Also, what type of cleaning do you think was done to it, and how long ago? THANKS!!!!!!!

wingedliberty

The original luster has been supressed with harsh cleaning. You can still see the lines and the smoothness left by the abrasive nature of the cleaning. The discoloration and breaks in the original luster are obvious. Please also note that the coin has a smooth milky surface texture ,which is a dead giveaway.
It was not uncommon for collectors in those days to use harsh abrasive cleaners to clean coins, in fact it still carries over to non numismatists to this day.
There is a commercial that is running for Jewelers cleaner that actually advises people to clean coins.

XpipedreamR

How can you differentiate wear from cleaning on a worn coin like this?

wingedliberty

The discoloration and breaks in the luster are a dead giveaway. If the coin was original it would be darker with no signs of artificial luster. The artificial luster is brought on by abrasive cleaner.

wingedliberty

This is actually something that is taught first by ANA grading instructors in the courses the teach on grading. Color and discoloration are key in determining cleaned coins. Artificial luster is dull and spotty.
Natural luster in most cases is more uniform.

Russ

Here's one for comparison:



Russ, NCNE

wingedliberty

Russ's example of an original coin is perfect , as it still retains the original luster , unlike the previous example where the original color has been obliterated by harsh cleaning.

Neptune

oooohhh pretty, Russ. Thank you all for all of your help. Ya'll are great! What would YOU give for this coin? I am thinking the $30 mentioned in post above? Any other opinions on that. Thanks again!

And thanks X for the photo enlargement - and to Winged for pointing out the cleaning points to me.

stujoe

The $30 range is what I have seen uncleaned EF's offered at. If it is cleaned, it would be worth quite a bit less, I imagine.

Neptune

Here is a "scan" of the coin's obverse - the other's were taken with my digital. I did not edit either scan or photo. I can definitely see a lot more detail on Russ's nice coin.

SCAN of Stone Mt. obverse vs. digital photo