Question on Bodybagged 1857 Flying Eagle
netrubicon
Posts: 677 ✭
I bought this raw 1857 Flying Eagle from a dealer a couple of months ago. I liked how it looked. I sent it in for Economy grading and the coin came back "Altered Surfaces". I just got the coins back in the mail and notice the designation on the badybagged label says PR to me meaning
proof. Does this mean the coin is an 1857 Proof "Altered Surfaces"? The coin appears to have been cleaned at one time but not harshly.
Collecting cleaned, scratched, scraped, AT and ugly POS coins for over 2 years now!
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Comments
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>Any idea on its value? >>
Not a clue, but if they are correct that it's a proof I have to assume the value would be higher than a business strike.
Russ, NCNE
anyhow, what are you going to do with the coin??
I sent the coin to NGC, and they gave it an MS-64, whcih was exactly what it deserved.
I can't see a picture of your coin, but if it is really an impaired Proof, all may not be lost for you. Proof Flying Eagles and quite scarce, and even an impaired one can be worth at least $1,000 or probably more.
I'd try ANACS or NGC. If they put it in a Proof holder, even with an impariment notation, it will be a valuable coin.
Russ, NCNE
2040 1857 Flying Eagle - - - - 4250 8500 15000 27500 45000 65000
PCGS PRICE GUIDE
I'd send it to NGC.
The former is the correct number for a business strike, and the latter, for a Proof. If you mistakenly used the PCGS coin number for a Proof, it's entirely possible that the graders ignored or missed it when determining that the coin had been altered. Once they reached that conclusion, the method of manufacture became secondary/moot.
Even if your pictures did show up, it likely would be very difficult to tell from them whether the coin were a Proof or not. I will hope for you, that it's a Proof, though.
1866 3cn =au55
1924 $1 =ms63
1836 Lettered Edge= Au/53
1872 5c = environmental damage
1850 1/2 dime = environmantal damage
<< <i>Even if your pictures did show up >>
Is his pic not showing for you guys? Is for me and, even though I don't know a damned thing about these, it looks like it might be a proof. Very crisp strike and appears to be mirrored.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>I marked the submission sheet 2040. Maybe its not a proof!? >>
Sounds like Mark nailed it. It was likely entered in to the system based on the coin number and, since the graders were bodybagging it, they had no reason to look further.
Russ, NCNE
david
<< <i>
<< <i>Even if your pictures did show up >>
Is his pic not showing for you guys? Is for me and, even though I don't know a damned thing about these, it looks like it might be a proof. Very crisp strike and appears to be mirrored.
Russ, NCNE >>
That's the impression i got was that some were not seeing the pic. It's pretty big so i cropped it a little bit and re-posted it so hopefully everyone could see it.
The surface does have some weird spotting that might indicate some kind of cleaning or damage?
It does have a nice sharp strike tho.
<< <i>Is his pic not showing for you guys? >>
Russ, I see Doug's image but not Netrubicon's.
With respect to your observations about the coin's appearance - I have seen some very sharp business strikes and some not-so-sharp Proofs, so the strike doesn't necessarily tell us anything. Additionally, if the surfaces were altered or cleaned, that could easily account for a prooflike appearance.
<< <i>I marked the submission sheet 2040. Maybe its not a proof!? >>
It sounds as if you submitted it as a Proof, and, as I had speculated, once PCGS determined it had been altered, they left the PCGS coin number/designation unchanged. The chances of the coin being a Proof just took a big hit - sorry.
At any rate, the coin has been worked on big time, and deserved the BB from what I can see. The surfaces are not natural and neither is the color. But you seldem see flyers with sharply defined detail like that. If everything is strong on the reverse, including the 3 and 9 o'clock areas of the wreath and "ONE CENT." It improves its chances of being a Proof.
Stiil this no way that it was get a clean bil of health. The coin has been worked on quite a bit.
Remember, you have a $12 (or whhatever it is) an hour person entering information for finalization/printing, and they make mistakes. I had a 1937-S 66FB Merc I sent in to regrading one time. The grade posted as MS66 (no bands). I flipped (because of the grading guarantee) and immediately called PCGS. After being on the phone (on hold) with the CSR for a while she came back and said, "OK, I stopped the order from getting shipped...now let me put you back on hold and find out what's going on". She came back and said, "I have it fixed now...the problem was that the person entering the final information for printing/posting of the cert # made a mistake in entering the information...that happens sometimes, especially at the end of the day when we're trying to get orders out...we fixed it and will re-label the coin/fix the cert to a 66FB".
Since that day I've had a TOTALLY different opinion of TPG's. I wonder how many "gift coins" are simply clerical mistakes, and I wonder how many 63's are really 65, but they are 63's because someone pressed the wrong key.