My interesting $115 eBay 1921 Peace Dollar purchase
mercurydimeguy
Posts: 4,625 ✭✭✭✭
I was flipping through auctions and ran across this one, looked at it 15 times. It just looked different.... decided to win it. Cost me $115. I figure if its real, I might get $40-$50 back out of it but hopefully I will get $65 worth of education. I edited the eBay photos a bit to make them discernible (see below)...the coin is scrub a dub dub cleaned, obviously (so let's not point out the obvious) . It is currently in route to me ... I can't wait to get it/look at it in hand. If you are curious, I'll post higher resolution images of it later this weekend (I should have it by Friday or Saturday).
2
Comments
I am curious to know what compelled you to bid on an obviously harshly cleaned coin.
It's either fake or it's the rare well-struck variety. Doesn't the well-struck one have some die chatter in the lower part of the date?
Even cleaned those 21 Peace dollars are still lookers..
I like it too @mercurydimeguy I don't care what anyone says
Insert witicism here. [ xxx ]
Added surprise bonus:
Looks like a VAM 3, Top-50!
I have been looking at ebay for one of those... did not see that one. Yes, looks cleaned... Cheers, RickO
I got the coin today and took 10-12 different shots (different lighting and angles), so here's one (in SUPER LARGE format so you can examine). I don't have a scale to weigh the coin so I don't know if it's real but it sounds real (countertop test), and has what feels like the the right weight by hand. It has some interesting characteristics upon in-hand examination. For example areas that have not been cleaned have a sandblasted/satiny look to them. Especially in between letters and design elements (obv and rev). Around the bust (especially by Anthony de Francisci mark), there is serious die polish, and also in between the rays and other recesses where the cleaning didn't penetrate, there is lots of raised die polish.
The entire look to the coin is like a normal Peace Dollar, just a little "different"...hard to quantify but lots of small nuances like sharper than usual rims where the coin hasn't been cleaned/rubbed. Very interesting...
Yup. VAM 3, nice!
Good looking Peace dollar... cleaned, but a nice specimen. Cheers, RickO
Nice details! Love the vam.
Time for a trip to Taco Bell and pick up some napkins.
There's not like a "zerbe" version of the Peace, is there?
Check out my iPhone app SlabReader!
I like it, cleaned or no.
What are the markers for a VaM 3?
It's hard to name another issue in the Peace $1 series that looks this nice when it's this messed up.
As you mentioned it has a sand blasted finish look in the recessed areas.
I'm not a peace dollar guy, so my knowledge is weak, but it looks like this to me, but all polished up
The area around the date and peace on reverse haven't received the harsh cleaning and just look different than a regular strike.
Bst transactions with: dimeman, oih82w8, mercurydimeguy, dunerlaw, Lakesammman, 2ltdjorn, MattTheRiley, dpvilla, drddm, CommemKing, Relaxn, Yorkshireman, Cucamongacoin, jtlee321, greencopper, coin22lover, coinfolio, lindedad, spummybum, Leeroybrown, flackthat, BryceM, Surfinxhi, VanHalen, astrorat, robkool, Wingsrule, PennyGuy, al410, Ilikecolor, Southcounty, Namvet69, Commemdude, oreville, Leebone, Rob41281, clarkbar04, cactusjack55, Collectorcoins, sniocsu, coin finder