Newbie checks in
BigTarget
Posts: 44
Hi. I've been lurking around for a while and have enjoyed this forum very much. Thought I'd jump in.
I recently bought my first raw coin from a local dealer, a 1941-D Walker dealer graded as MS-64. Today received my first on-line purchase, a 1945-D Walker in PCGS slab graded as MS-64. I also received Swiatek's Walker book Monday so I've got some things to look at through the glass.
I paid more for the dealer's coin but I think I'm getting a pretty good education from it, especially that I have the PCGS to carefully compare to. Still don't really know what I'm looking at, but I'm pretty sure the coin from dealer has die crack across Eagle's breast, lots of heavy die polishing (I THINK the lines are raised, but they do go under the text, not across it), and a good example of whizzing on the thumb.
I've been experimenting with over-dipping coins to try and get an idea of what that looks like but don't think I can spot that yet.
Anyway, I've been learning a lot form this forum. Hope to continue to learn in the future. Thanks
I recently bought my first raw coin from a local dealer, a 1941-D Walker dealer graded as MS-64. Today received my first on-line purchase, a 1945-D Walker in PCGS slab graded as MS-64. I also received Swiatek's Walker book Monday so I've got some things to look at through the glass.
I paid more for the dealer's coin but I think I'm getting a pretty good education from it, especially that I have the PCGS to carefully compare to. Still don't really know what I'm looking at, but I'm pretty sure the coin from dealer has die crack across Eagle's breast, lots of heavy die polishing (I THINK the lines are raised, but they do go under the text, not across it), and a good example of whizzing on the thumb.
I've been experimenting with over-dipping coins to try and get an idea of what that looks like but don't think I can spot that yet.
Anyway, I've been learning a lot form this forum. Hope to continue to learn in the future. Thanks
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Comments
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etexmike
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
First try at emoticon. Let's see what this one looks like.
******
When you overdip just leave them in the solution a little longer and don't be
quite so quick to rinse it all off. It should show up fairly quickly.
It looks like you've started on a great series. The Walker is
my all-time favorite coin design and I'm in the process of building
a short set (41 to 47) myself.
Getting the book before the coin is very smart. Also, getting a
PCGS slabbed coin is very smart. I would avoid making raw coin
purchases (especially expensive ones) until you've gained some
experience with grading.
The folks here are very friendly and knowledgeable so don't
hesitate to bring your questions here.
Raised polishing marks are very common on Walkers as is the
die crack along the eagle's breast. Polishing marks are easy to
spot as the always run in the same direction and are just in the
fields.
An over-dipped coin will have a dull, washed out look as the surface
gets tiny pits which destroy the luster of the coin. The thumb on
most Walkers is almost always weakly struck along with the skirts
and head. These are also the places where marks tend to accumulate
and where some polishing can be spotted. Be careful about buying
a coin which is sold as MS but has been polished in these areas.
Please check out my eBay auctions!
My WLH Short Set Registry Collection
U.S. Nickels Complete Set with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes
U.S. Dimes Complete Set with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes
Positive BST as a seller: Namvet69, Lordmarcovan, Bigjpst, Soldi, mustanggt, CoinHoader, moursund, SufinxHi, al410, JWP
Your one Walker up on me, I only own 1 and itza VG.
Herb
In reply to -
"The thumb on most Walkers is almost always weakly struck along with the skirts and head."
Swiatek's book gives the criteria for a full strike so I got out the glass on the slabbed vs raw coin. Noticed that the raw coin had much stronger strike than the slabbed, expect for the thumb, which was much weaker than the slabbed. Everywhere else the raw coin had the full strike criteris. I expected strike to be consistant across a coin so I took a closer look and for the first time saw the scratches on the raw coin thumb all going in same direction. Can't tell you how often I had looked at this before and never seen it! Now that I have it's as plain as day!
I'm very shy about buying raw coins from dealers, which is why I've taken the handle "Big Target" for now. But I figure if this one I bought has good examples of whizzing, etc. it's paid for itself in education.