Is this an 1883 over 2?

MrSpud

I picked up a vg shield nickel out of a dealers bargain bin today at a coin show. Attached is a pic of the date. Is this an 1883 over 2?
Thanks for looking,
MrSpud

lathmach

Yep that's it.
It's # 18V.2. This also comes with a die break above the date.
There's 3 other varities of 1883/2, the #18V.1, the #18.V3 (and die state V3E.), and V4.

Ray
By the way, that coin you have is a rariety 5.

TommyType

I dont' know....I was fooled by one a few years ago in about this grade because the "2" is pretty odd looking. Once it wears down, it's easy to mistake. If I was home, and had my NOT 3/2 handy, I'd provide a pic for comparison. (I'll do that later if you don't get a concensus before then).

Tom

Added: Looks like you're getting better advice than I can provide already.

MrSpud

Thanks for the replies. I am still not sure though because of some stuff I found about something called a filled 2 shield nickel at Filled 2 shield link . It would be great if it was a legit 3 over 2 though.

TommyType

Sorry...I promised to be helpful, but I often fail in that regard.

Below is a picture of my NOT 3/2 coin. I worked with an experienced collector of Shield Nickels on rec.collecting.coins to come to that conclusion, so I’m pretty sure my non-attribution is correct.

Do you have a copy of “The Cherry pickers’ Guide”? They show four different varieties of 3/2 coins, and all of them show the underdate BETWEEN the last 8 and the 3. It' s a much more subtle variety than the name "3/2" might suggest. In case you don’t have a copy, I offer this quote from the guide:

“Countless 1882 dated coins with filled 2 are labeled as overdate, but are not. As noted above, the 2 must be visible between the last 8 and the 3.”

Since I can't see too clearly what MIGHT be lurking between those digits in your pics, I'll pass on any final opinion.



Tom

Added: Just linked to the page you reference. I think Howard Spindel was the guy I conversed with! He mentions on that page as well that the 2 must appear BETWEEN the 8 and 3.

Tom (again).

Conder101

No it is NOT an 83/2. The 1883 date logotype is considerably different than the 1882 logotype. On the 1883 the digits of the date are much further apart with almost enough space between the 8 and the 3 to fit the entire 2 in there. Here is a closeup picture of an 1883 date.


See how much more spread out the date is as compared to yours. Your coin has the spacing of an 1882 logotype.

coincollector1989

I believe it to be a filled 2 JMHO.

1946Hamm

Here is a certified 1883/2 for comparison. You can see the 2 to the left of the 3. The spacing is not right on yours as Conder101 pointed out.

MrSpud

Thanks.

For the fun of it I did a quick search the other day on e-bay for similar coins. I found 2 completed auctions with the same type of filled 2 that were being auctioned as 3 over 2s. One of them was ended early and relisted as a filled 2 and sold for just a few bucks. The other one said in the description that he had received e-mails talking about filled 2's but that he thought it was a legit 3 over 2 because of the way the right side of the number looked. This one ended up selling for something like $71 (if I remember correctly).

Conder101

If you keep looking you will find that the vast majority of non-certified 3/2 nickels listed on ebay or in dealers stock at coin shows are actually filled or "heavy 2" coins. Probably less than 5% of them are really 3/2.

Howard Spindel is the expert on this coin and he has an excellent web site on the coin which I believe contains all five(?) of the known varieties of this coin plus some die stages. (The Filled 2 page that MrSpud posted is just one page from the site.) The site can be found at 1883/2 shield nckel page