Opinions on 1798/7 dime?

Arcimboldo

I was doing a little browsing and came across this old dime. I'm not planning on buying it, but I was hoping to use it as a learning experience since I know there are several dime and/or draped bust experts who hang around here.

Is the rim nick the only thing keeping this coin from getting a non-genuine holder? Would the obverse scratches and/or obverse dent play a major role? Are there other issues I've missed?

Is this a good value for ~$900? Currently, the PCGS price guide lists G4 at $1100 and F12 at $2100.

Any comments/opinions would be appreciated.

commoncents05

The scratches and the rim knick will both prevent it from grading at PCGS. Note the scratch on the reverse is not actually a scratch, it is an adjustment mark, the planchet was too heavy before striking, so it was filed down to the correct weight. The file mark was so deep part of it remained after striking.

-Paul

Baley

Great coin that did it's duty when our country was young, and shows it.

the details are Fine or nearly so, and yes the defects will cause the net grade to be lower, I'd say Good is about right, and would like to own it at that level myself.

the scratches and other marks look to me like contemporary "test marks" that a shopkeeper or other merchant would use to make sure the coin was real silver before accepting it.

The surfaces of the coin are actually quite pleasing otherwise

However, most others are far less forgiving of this type of defect on a 200+ year old coin, and would simply pass, not wanting to own it at any price (which I find ridiculous myself, but there it is)

Great coin to own, enjoy, touch with bare hands, imagine the history; tough coin to resell at a fair price.

Unknown

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rec78

May be worth $900 but is just a little too beat up for me-BUT While I don't mind low grades that are problem free-just try to find problem free early dimes and half-dimes in low grades. Bob

BillJones

<< <i>This is what you should stay away from imho. >>



From a financial perspective, yes, from a collector's perspective, perhaps not.

This is the 16 star reverse variety which is the second most common1798 dime variety. It is rated as an R-3 which means there are probably less than 500 examples known in all grades. These coins get wicked expensive in problem free grades VF and up. You rarely see them offered in more collector friendly grades like no problem VG and Fine. In the Good grade there won’t be much left. I would rather have this piece than one that is graded Good.

So if you are looking for an example that all of the devices strong and easily discernable, this coin could be of interest to a budget minded collector. BUT bear in mind that coins like these are not easy to re-sell.

And, yes, both the rim nick and the scratch would prevent this piece from getting graded in the slab. The mark by the eagle on the reverse may or may not be an adjustment mark. In grades like this a real adjustment marks may have been worn off the piece.

crypto79

I think it is a great coin. At a fair market value, although I would like it better in a GEN holder

mrearlygold

I think they are cute . I just bought one and started a thread on it ( gotta find it ). The coin came back today in an NGC holder and I'm looking forward to posting images in that thread as I'm betting that nobody got this one right

DorkGirl

I think it's nice, but not $900 nice.....

Baley

Was this same reverse die used to coin quarter eagles?

STONE

<< <i>Was this same reverse die used to coin quarter eagles? >>


I believe so. The Ed Price catalog should say for certain...or at least the EUSD!

Arcimboldo

Thanks for the responses! Aside from the problems, I like the look of this coin a lot. However, since I'd most likely want to upgrade it in the future, I decided to pass in order to save the funds for something(s) that I'm not planning on replacing.

As for using this reverse die for quarter eagles, Baley and STONE appear to be correct: Ed Price Collection

"Heritage Commentary: The two 1798 overdates share a common obverse die that was first used for JR-1. The reverse is the same die that was earlier used for 1797 quarter eagles. For these coins, the emission sequence is 1797 BD-1 quarter eagle; 1798/7 JR-1 dime; 1798/7 JR-2 dime. Although from entirely different die pairs, we assume that the 1798 overdates were coined before the 1798 normal dates. For a discussion of the shared reverse dies, refer to the listing for the 1797 quarter eagle. "