Guess Grade: Charlotte Half Eagle
Coins299
Posts: 190
Any opinions?
0
Coins299
Posts: 190
Any opinions?
Comments
<< <i>No opinion here!
... ?
Edited to add I see NGC prongs so I up my guess to AU53 but who knows with them
...I know already did
<< <i>Really depends in when it was graded but I would think most could agree on xf45. It looks to me to have a shiny staple scratch on her neck which troubles me a little bit. I don't think it would keep it out of a holder ever but that coupled with the weak C limits the liquidity of the piece. >>
That's what i thought, too. About the details.
<< <i>AU55 at NGC, maybe even a 58, judging how lenient they are on no motto gold in general and branch mints like this in particular. PCGS 50/53; ANACS 50/55; ICG the same; NNC 58 or higher. >>
That seems a bit extreme.
EF-40 might be low-balling it, but it's not better than EF to me.
LM-ANA3242-CSNS308-MSNS226-ICTA
Latin American Collection
The commercial grade on this piece is EF-40, especially since the Charlotte mint coins get grading push from the services (often a 5 to 10 point push), but it doesn't make that level from a "collector grade" perspective IMO.
I don't see how anyone could call this an AU-50. It has lost a lot of micro detail because of wear, and I can't see any mint surface on this coin whatsoever. An AU should have some mint surfaces in the protected areas, even an AU-50. There can be traces of it on an EF-45.
<< <i>I wish that some of you guys would really set down and study an ANA Grading Guide. This coin is a very close match to the piece that is graded VF in that book.
I don't see how anyone could call this an AU-50. It has lost a lot of micro detail because of wear, and I can't see any mint surface on this coin whatsoever. An AU should have some mint surfaces in the protected areas, even an AU-50. There can be traces of it on an EF-45. >>
I disagree, most of the detail loss is from strike and there is 5-10% mint frost in the normal protected areas such as her eye, ear and liberty. Not saying I disagree with your commercial grade of 40 but I get there a completely different way. That coin is clearly xf and I don't see this cleaning you speak of. Even the greenish color is tracking to my eyes.
<< <i>You guys should spend some time looking at the coins and checking out the grades on the thread called "Charlotte Half Eagles ... Let's see some." It's on the second screen at the moment. Most of the grades there appear to be "spot on" for those coins. >>
Most of the coins on the other thread are the top 10% for grade (some even 1%). While it easy to grade perfection when the skin, strike and surfaces are all nice, the exercise is still relevant for less than ideal coins. Most souther gold isn't going to look like it came of of the Kellogg collection, not that it isn't a great standard to strive to but it isn't realistic.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
PCGS40
NGC is more lenient grade wise with branch mint gold.
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>
<< <i>You guys should spend some time looking at the coins and checking out the grades on the thread called "Charlotte Half Eagles ... Let's see some." It's on the second screen at the moment. Most of the grades there appear to be "spot on" for those coins. >>
Most of the coins on the other thread are the top 10% for grade (some even 1%). While it easy to grade perfection when the skin, strike and surfaces are all nice, the exercise is still relevant for less than ideal coins. Most souther gold isn't going to look like it came of of the Kellogg collection, not that it isn't a great standard to strive to but it isn't realistic. >>
So you drop your standards, buy "C" level coins and live happy until it comes time sell. It does not sound like a winning strategy to me. I have no problems with lower level coins that are properly graded, but the over graded stuff gives the hobby a black, and my time as a collector I have seen too many of those. "C" level coins bought at discounted prices for the assigned grade can be okay too, but that hard to do.
From DW's Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint, 3rd Edition
The 1854-C remains among the scarcest of the later date Charlotte half eagles; DW estimates that it is the 7th rarest of 24 coins, with total known survivors of 140 - 170, of which 50 - 60 are XF.
Many 1854-C half eagles are quite weakly struck at the center of the obverse. This is particularly notable on the curls below IBER in LIBERTY. The reverse is weak at the center and this corresponds to the area described for the obverse. The upper leg feathers near the shield, the arrow feathers and the left claw are most often the areas that are weak. A number of 1854-C half eagles are seen with weak or very weak mintmarks. Coins without fully defined mintmarks typically sell for less than those with sharp mintmarks.
The quality of the planchets used to produce the 1854-C half eagle are not as good as on many of the Charlotte half eagles produced during the early part of the 1850's. Most 1854-C half eagles are quite heavily abraded with deep, detracting marks in the fields.
This date is among the hardest Charlotte half eagles to find with good eye appeal. The weakness of strike at the centers makes many examples appear to have greater wear than they actually have. In addition, some have planchet problems which are detracting. Any 1854-C that is choice and attractive is very rare and deserving of a strong premium over a typical example.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
This is my 54-C. Nicest I have seen and ex a very well respected fellow Southern Gold collector. It's a tough date but no where near tough to the point where I would ever compromise on quality.
Latin American Collection
Obverse XF40, reverse XF45, so XF40.
rodorr
The Charlotte mint did issue an lot of sub-standard coins in the 1850s. Here is an 1857-C gold dollar from two points of view as to the color. PCGS graded this piece EF-45. The gray color (second photo) is more like how the coin looks in person.
Bill J, that's a nice looking 1857-C $1. I'm very familiar with that coin - call it an "old friend".
'dude