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A Near-Cameo Proof Walker Par Excellence... A Mark Feld Special to end another long search
airplanenut
Posts: 22,368 ✭✭✭✭✭
Walking Liberty half dollars are among my very favorite coins ever struck by the mint. The design is beautiful, and they are available in just about any budget. I have quite a few mint state examples, and for many years have eyed proofs. Some time early last year I decided to finally get one. In one sense, proof walkers are a dime a dozen. You can go to any show, the inventories of countless dealers online, or eBay, and find plenty.
But I didn't just want any old proof walker. While flashy is nice, I think they're incredible with cameo frost, and to show off the frost, they also need deep, watery mirrors. Proof walkers with almost any hint of frost are hard to locate, and many proofs also have some level of haze that obscures the mirrors. It also couldn't be an actual cameo, as those are well out of my budget. Over the last few years, I've bought very few coins, preferring to really find the best ones I can and taking quality over quantity. I've waited years for the right coin many times, and have never regretted it.
So I started looking. And looking. And for a few months I saw nothing of interest. Occasionally a coin with a nice obverse might pop up, but then the reverse killed it. Since these types of proofs can often look much frostier in images than in hand (by virtue of lighting, not image manipulation), I was also skeptical with most I saw online, even when they did look good. So by late spring, I decided to do what I've done many times in the past when on a hunt for an easy coin at a difficult level of quality: I contacted Mark Feld, all-around great guy, close friend, and purveyor of many of the finest coins I own.
So I searched, and so Mark searched. While most of my searching was done online, Mark had the advantage of walking numerous shows and looking through lots of auctions. We'd exchange notes. Usually I'd find nothing online, and he'd have seen nothing that matched my description at a show. Then one day in early September, a phone call during work hours. Bear in mind, when Mark calls me during work hours, it usually means he needs tech support, so I was bracing for the worst. Instead, he was calling to say he finally had a coin he thought might match what I was looking for (he played it down to keep me from getting my hopes up too much) and to let me know it was in the mail.
A few days later, here it was, in all its glory! Extremely deep, watery mirrors, near-cameo obverse frost, and a frosty reverse (but not as much as the obverse). Held at the right angle, the obverse can even take on a deep cameo appearance, too, which is really exciting for me. Needless to say, this was an instant sale. In all, from the time I started looking until the time I actually bought the coin, some 18 months had elapsed, and I'd guess Mark was a part of the hunt for about 15 months. Hosting a guess how long it took to find thread, Mark garnered responses in the range of a few months to a few years, and on average, they were right. Mark also guessed he looked at upwards of 1000 coins to find it. I should finally note that I did pay a premium based on what the number on the holder says, but nothing unreasonably high.
I've been holding off on posting this since I didn't want to do so until I had pictures available, and I finally got around to taking them. I took a few to show both the frost and the mirrors. Granted using multiple lights helps bring out the frost, so at other angles the frost is significantly reduced, but no special lights are needed to make the coin look like this in hand. It's graded PCGS PR66+ with a CAC sticker, making it both my first CAC coin and first + coin. I don't really care about either, since the coin is what matters, but heck, the coin deserves it accolades.
So in summary, yet another long search is done, and yet again I'm very satisfied having waited for the right coin to eventually present itself. Oh yeah, and Mark is a great dealer to work with.
Jeremy
JK Coin Photography - eBay Consignments | High Quality Photos | LOW Prices | 20% of Consignment Proceeds Go to Pancreatic Cancer Research
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Comments
For those of you who find it "elitist" to set your standards high on not buy just whatever is readily available, this is an excellent example of what makes coin collecting interesting, challenging, and fulfilling. Jeremy probably directly and indirectly (through Mark) likely passed on thousands of coins before finding the right fit.
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
And a really gorgeous trophy Walker!
Mr. Feld sounds like a fine guide for such a safari as well... (sounding like a hunting expedition but I'm happy no animals were killed for this one).
I love the coin!!! It's in my top three for all time design beauties. And you've got a real beauty there!!!
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
When I first opened the thread I thought it was going to be the coin I currently have on my radar. In 1999 I started my first gem Walker short set. I completed and sold a couple sets, looked at hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of coins over the years but always yearned for a proof. I've seen a few with some cameo frost but have been holding out for a real mind blower.
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
I will likely graduate to a similar pursuit some day.
Jeremy,
That has to be the nicest Walker that Mark
has ever found. Pristine Cameo surfaces and
only missing the frost on the Sun to hold it
back from a full CAM designation.
Congrats, that one was worth waiting for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
Great coin! I've been looking for a nice near cameo Walker for many years. They are really hard to find that nice.
Glad you were able to add that coin to your set. In the meantime, I keep looking.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Nice, no, Super Nice half dollar!
bob
MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
While a very nice coin, I am not sure I agree with its technical merits making it an such an absolute rarity. Contrasting proof walkers can be had for a premium at most large shows for a price and I while people will talk about the irrelevance of the plus+ grade and sticker I think some of that is a case of "protesting a bit too much" and is a large part of how that particular coin stands out in the crowd. I do concede that Yes Proof Walkers are beautiful coins and that is a nice one.
That is a great looking coin. Congrats.
Mike
You will no doubt thoroughly enjoy owning this coin. It is gorgeous.
Some other forumites have posted photos of proof Walkers with frosted devices, some even designated Cameo (i.e. Skyman's 1938 comes to mind).
Perhaps photos of those other proof Walkers can be posted to this thread for comparison purposes.
Again, great job.
Best wishes,
Eric
<< <i>Gorgeous coin and great story. Mark is awesome.
For those of you who find it "elitist" to set your standards high on not buy just whatever is readily available, this is an excellent example of what makes coin collecting interesting, challenging, and fulfilling. Jeremy probably directly and indirectly (through Mark) likely passed on thousands of coins before finding the right fit.
elitist or determined -- it's all in how you present yourself. Go up to someone who enjoys tinkering with their coins, who enjoys buying them every few weeks, little cheapies -- no big deal -- just fun to own. And please, ask them if they realize they're "wasting their time" and should really "up their standards" and "not be such an easy mark as to buy anything that's put in front of you" and comment "what a lot of just....stuff" and question them "why don't you have some patience and wait for a GOOD coin" and etc, etc, etc. Then ask them if they think you're just a tad elitist? Can you place yourself in such shoes?
Sheesh. As to the coin, very happy Jeremy's pleased with it. His money and his acquisition. For my part, I would want a proof walker with more (original) haze. MOO.
As proud as I am of my 1877, I expect I wouldn't appreciate it if someone with a taste that ran more to Gem BU's questioned why I would "settle" for such a piece, when with a few more years of saving, I coulda had a MS-63, at the very least. And I wouldn't question the motivations of someone who was after "merely" an Ag-G of the same date. I dunno, maybe they're just a casual collector, who (unlike me) set their sites reasonably, and don't give in so often (unlike me again) to "champagne taste, beer budget"? To each their own. I would never demean someone for having a lot of "stuff". In its own way, a lot of "stuff" is just as cool as someone with the glorified box of 20. Either one can be a burden, if you don't learn to buy and sell smartly.
The last coin Jeremy sold me was a relatively inexpensive mercury dime in an old holder. He really liked it and I really liked it.
Of course it ended up getting a gold sticker.
<< <i>For my part, I would want a proof walker with more (original) haze. MOO. >>
That's two of us?
Eric
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/