How would you grade this 1850-O quarter eagle?
Longacre
Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭
I was looking at a dealer's inventory, and this coin struck my eye. How would you grade this coin? How would a TPG grade it? Would it sticker or not? What other comments do you have about the coin?
Always took candy from strangers
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
0
Comments
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
should it not have some visible luster even though the strike
was mush??
i say 45. no luster left to be seen.
<< <i>the coin just looks wrong, washed out and dead.
should it not have some visible luster even though the strike
was mush??
i say 45. no luster left to be seen. >>
fc, I just haveto meet you at CoinFest.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
<< <i>the coin just looks wrong, washed out and dead.
should it not have some visible luster even though the strike
was mush??
i say 45. no luster left to be seen. >>
Washed out!?!? That's a crusty and original coin!
NGC AU50 or 53
me thinks fc nailed it
the problem with this whole situation is I not fully understanding
southern gold.
is this a weak strike or is it wear?
does a weak strike ever have booming luster before it circulated?
there is another whole world to learn about southern gold.
i am using my general knowledge of half eagles to guess at this
situation while it may require a more expert knowledge in this
particular area.
so once again i like the coin, but i do not see the luster for an AU.
maybe in hand i would instantly change my mind!
i am wondering if my work laptop screen just sucks for viewing
coins. i wonder what it would look like at home on my newer monitor.
the coin reminds me a lot like this one but i cannot see the luster.
so you have me very curious what it grades by a tpg and your
thoughts longacre.
Al
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>EF40 may be lightly cleaned with a brillo pad. >>
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
<< <i> As far as I know the coin is raw-slabbed. >>
What does "raw-slabbed" mean? Sounds like an oxymoron.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I don't think that it will sticker. It looks like a light wipe from long ago. Otherwise, it is a nice crusty coin.
will someone please post a nice crusty AU quarter eagle from O please?
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
will someone please post a nice crusty AU quarter eagle from O please?
fc - you're looking at one. Admittedly, it's a higher-grade AU and so has less crust (combination of dirt and darker surfaces) than an XF coin would. Also, depending on the angle of the image/photograph, you may not be able to see luster. In any event, one shouldn't rely on an image to show a coin's luster accurately.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the 1850-O quarter eagle:
"The 1850-O is among the most difficult New Orleans quarter eagles to find with a good strike. Most are very weakly impressed at the centers and have an almost "sunken" appearance. On the obverse there is considerable weakness on the curls below and behind the ear and many of the stars are flat at the centers. The reverse typically has noticeable weakness on the eagle's right leg and claw and on the neck feathers. I have never seen a fully struck example and only a small number that showed even an average amount of detail at the centers."
Check out the Southern Gold Society
<< <i>The coin is graded NGC 55 >>
"
Had me fooled. Thanks for the grading lesson Dave. Great info on this board. That's what brings me back. Thanks for the post Longacre. (Sure it's a 55?
to get an idea of the luster that should be on it...
i do not mind the strike and i understand your point on that.
i just wonder why it looks like a 45 in the pics. seems the seller
would want to show off the luster. as for being crusty and/or
dirty.. i am not seeing that either.
<< <i>XF-40 >>
I agree, It is no better than 40, I may even go 35 on it. It does not matte that it may have been softly struck once it has been circulated. It can go from MS60 to 45 in a day.
<< <i>i am not sure why people are calling this coin crusty.
will someone please post a nice crusty AU quarter eagle from O please?
fc - you're looking at one. Admittedly, it's a higher-grade AU and so has less crust (combination of dirt and darker surfaces) than an XF coin would. Also, depending on the angle of the image/photograph, you may not be able to see luster. In any event, one shouldn't rely on an image to show a coin's luster accurately.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the 1850-O quarter eagle:
"The 1850-O is among the most difficult New Orleans quarter eagles to find with a good strike. Most are very weakly impressed at the centers and have an almost "sunken" appearance. On the obverse there is considerable weakness on the curls below and behind the ear and many of the stars are flat at the centers. The reverse typically has noticeable weakness on the eagle's right leg and claw and on the neck feathers. I have never seen a fully struck example and only a small number that showed even an average amount of detail at the centers." >>
DaveG-- thanks for providing the info from the Winter book. I meant to write it up and post it but forgot to.
fc-- do you have Winter's New Orleans book? It has a lot of information and it will illustrate how soft strikes can sometimes look like pure wear.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
i want to know what the luster should look like on a newly minted
soft struck quarter eagle.
that coin appears more then just circulated.
this coin is pcgs ms62ish and has luster that shows. obvious luster. tons of it.
ngc ms62ish and i see a dead coin. unless the pic is bad, where is the luster?
this ngc coin is better luster wise. is it a 55.
so to summarize, i am not agreeing with the experts. obviously some 1850O QE
have nice luster and i wish to know what is the excuse for this coin?
a bad photo or blatant overgrading?
after viewing many other 1850-O QE on heritage i am going to fully think that
grade inflation has ruined a lot of people's eye. with no luster left on that coin
in that pic, i cannot say it is AU.
anyway. my two cents. so who will you trust? some silly tpg who over grades everything
compared to pcgs when it comes to gold coins or the proof i just demonstarted to you
via pics. use your own brain. buy the coin not the stupid holder.
The coin is graded NGC 55, which should be market acceptable
it is not market acceptable. it is borderline criminal how this situation of grade
inflation is stealing money from collectors. ngc gives the grades dealers want.
please note, this whole thread is based on a pic and the coin may not be like
the pic. but i doubt that. seriously.
While I will be the last person to argue that gradeflation has not taken place, I strongly disagree with the above statement. Gradeflation does not "steal money from collectors". I say this because the market reflects prevailing grading standards, not past standards. If you pay AU55 money for the OP's coin, it's only that cheap because it's an old-school XF40. If standards hadn't changed, "AU55 money" might be twice as high, or something along those lines.
In other words, it would make just as much sense to argue that gradeflation has saved collectors hundreds of millions of dollars by providing the same grades at a lower cost than would otherwise be possible!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
---
ouch. i hate when someone does the above to me. touche.
So the people who bought properly graded saints long ago should just crack them
out and resubmit due to TPGs changing the grading standards every few years?
when in rome i suppose. it just seems tpgs are not only allowing inflation to creep in
but coins that used to BB are now getting in and creeping up in grade.
when does it all become a big fat scam and thus criminal?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>it is borderline criminal how this situation of grade inflation is stealing money from collectors.
While I will be the last person to argue that gradeflation has not taken place, I strongly disagree with the above statement. Gradeflation does not "steal money from collectors". I say this because the market reflects prevailing grading standards, not past standards. If you pay AU55 money for the OP's coin, it's only that cheap because it's an old-school XF40. If standards hadn't changed, "AU55 money" might be twice as high, or something along those lines.
In other words, it would make just as much sense to argue that gradeflation has saved collectors hundreds of millions of dollars by providing the same grades at a lower cost than would otherwise be possible! >>
Another way in which gradeflation actually helps the collector is that while prices have been stagnant (or nearly so) for many coins/series, having a coin that graded XF ten years ago grade AU today allows you to get out of the coin without losing your rear.
fc, as per your diatribe re: luster, the coin in the OP has original patinated surfaces which will only show the luster when tilted under a light. Not all attributes of coins can be revealed by the digicpic (to borrow a Dorkkarl term).
i do. nicely explained.
which will only show the luster when tilted under a light.
like i said, i am going by the picture... but an AU55, in my opinion,
should not have to be tilted much at all to see the luster....
it should be blatantly obvious and quite easy to see.
but at this point the discussion has reached its end and we will agree
to disagree on this coin in this picture. i would only bid xf45 money.
:-)
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