My 1892-O Barber Quarter that is "too minor" to qualify for "Minor Variety" (revisited)

oih82w8

I may have shared this with the forum before, if so, my apologies, but I am not able to wrap my mind around this call by our host. I sent this coin in for TrueView and variety attribution last year, fully aware that it would come back as "DDO - Minor Variety". There are some obvious varieties out there that are not in the Cherrypickers Guides that PCGS will attribute as "Minor Variety". Would it worth more being identified as a Minor Variety? Who knows what a buyer will pay for something out of the ordinary. I have seen a 1892-O 25C (PCGS # V5602) DDO DDR Minor Variety PCGS AU58, and the doubling is not apparent to me other than a slightly doubled profile (strike doubling?) http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?hdnJumpToLot=1&saleNo=1204 &lotNo=9288&x=0&y=0

I am experiencing sour grapes and just wanted to see what the forum members had to say.

Here is the TrueView link for the BIG picture: https://images.pcgs.com/TrueView/33580056

Thank you for your interest and comments.

JeffMTampa

It sure is a great looking coin, but I'm having trouble finding the doubling.

In my opinion the minor variety isn't significant enough to bother with. If they don't recognize the diffefence between a Type 1 and 2 reverse I don't think minor doubling would be of significant interest to many.

spacehayduke

Most importantly, a gorgeous, well chosen example.

Best, SH

ricko

I do see the doubling... certainly minor, but visible...serifs are split.... Cheers, RickO

oih82w8

Just revisiting one of my threads from earlier this year when JeffMTampa brought up a really good question: Why doesn't our host "...recognize the difference between a Type 1 and 2 reverse...?" Which is obvious to just about anyone who would give a second look.

I still think that the OP coin IS a DDO! Split serifs on IGWT, stars and ribbon ends. Yes, I am biased.

Insider2

@oih82w8 said: I still think that the OP coin IS a DDO! Split serifs on IGWT, stars and ribbon ends. Yes, I am biased."

Of course it is and a neat one too. Let me give you a little history lesson. Back in the day, only two authentication services were doing varieties. This would have gone out as a DDO and if it was pictured somewhere it would have been attributed FOR FREE even if you had no idea the coin was a DDO! When PCGS and then NGC came along they were not "into" varieties and coins like all the doubled die Walkers were slabbed as normal coins! I am fairly certain the ANA was the only "major" service still doing ALL varieties. I don't remember if they charged. The "big boys" only did the major varieties.

There is a reason for this. As it was explained to me, TPGS put a value on a coin. They did not wish to do minor varieties. BTW, I don't consider the doubling on your coin to be minor!
The reason for this is two fold...the extra time to look things up and more importantly, if they slabbed a 1972 1c DDO-012, some poor soul would pay DDO-001 money thinking he had something good.

I never agreed with this approach. You cannot protect the uninformed from themselves. I cannot speak for PCGS but at one time around 2000, if the NGC expert researcher did not think the variety was anything special in his mind, the variety was not recognized.

Thankfully, all the major services do varieties. I believe NGC and PCGS is still quite restrictive. If you have a variety like the OP coin that they don't recognize, ICG or ANACS will.

AmazonX

Very nice.