Why did I buy these 2 worn, dirty, quarters with low eye appeal?

spacehayduke · January 28, 2018 7:13AM

Two newps below. Not high grade, not dripping in eye appeal. Probably dreck to many..... Why would I buy these?

Well, the 1806 B2 die marriage, in an ANACS holder, turns out, is pretty darn rare. It is the terminal die state (TDS) for the reverse, with a series of rim cuds and lots of die cracks. This was my only auction win at FUN, and I decided to bid on it after viewing it in hand at Ha lot viewing. The rim on the obverse looks like it wore down differentially because of slightly off center and weak strike - high grade examples of the TDS show this as well. These are hard to find in the latest die state and lots of interesting features combined with rarity of the die state. Heritage archives for example, out of the 70 or so B-2s auctioned, I find that 7 have this TDS with the complete set of rim cuds like the example below. There may be as many 50 to 100 of these in the TDS extant based on rarity estimates in Rea et al., and Tompkins for the die marriage, but maybe much less. So low grade (likely VG10 despite the ANACS grade) but very appealing nonetheless. I will crack it out and send it to our hosts expecting the VG10 grade.

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Here is the second piece - black grunge, dark colorless toning, yet I paid 2 times the current auction prices for 1835 P45 bust quarters for this one. What the heck was I thinking? Well, as shown, it is the B-8 die marriage. Tompkins gives it a R4+ (76-117 known), Rea et al. gives it a 5+ (31-45 known), and based on how many of these have come up in auctions, likely more rare than R4+ and closer to the Rea et al. estimates. In either case, there are only a handful known above the grade of XF45, and this one would in fact be tied for 7th in the Rea et al. condition census. So despite the crud, the dark toning, this is a very appealing bust quarter. And CAC liked it - they like this 'never been messed with to improve' look. I would prefer a little less crud, but it will be hard to find one better in this grade for sure for this die marriage. Thanks to the PCGS message board member who alerted me to this quarter on ebay!

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So that is why I bought them. Hard to find for the die marriage and die state specialist. May not be so appealing to many, but fun to collect with such complexity in the series and so much to learn, and not too expensive.

Best, SH

- Disclaimer, my images are not that 'brown' until uploaded here. For some reason, my jpg's turn more brown-reddish when I upload them to this site, at least on my Macs with Retina screens, don't know how they turn up on other screens.

grip · January 28, 2018 7:21AM

Like that 1806.

Cougar1978 · January 28, 2018 7:45AM

I like them they are nice old circ coins tough to find.

BillJones · January 28, 2018 7:48AM

I like the 1806, although for me it's hard NOT to like a Draped Bust coin unless it's been polished to look as bright as a mirror.

I can appreciate the rarity of the 1835 die variety, but it would not be a coin I would buy given that I don't collect Reduced Size Quarter die varieties.

ElmerFusterpuck · January 28, 2018 7:54AM

I know what 'dreck' is. Those two coins are not dreck at all.

mvs7 · January 28, 2018 9:26AM

Nice pickups... congrats!

crazyhounddog · January 28, 2018 10:04AM

I like the looks of both of em. For the right price I’d buy them too.

Boosibri · January 28, 2018 10:11AM

Cool coins! Seems like you have found your niche in the numismatic world

keyman64 · January 28, 2018 11:07AM

I like the 1806.

Yorkshireman · January 28, 2018 1:20PM

They are both cool pieces of history.

tommy44 · January 28, 2018 2:02PM

Not my series but I still like them both a lot and would be happy to have them in my collection.

ECHOES · January 28, 2018 2:12PM

@tommy44 said:
Not my series but I still like them both a lot and would be happy to have them in my collection.

+1

scubafuel · January 28, 2018 2:44PM

Those are some tough quarter varieties / die states to find, so congrats! Eye appeal needs to be weighed against the other survivors for the specific variety I think. By that scale, they look extremely good.

MikeInFL · January 28, 2018 3:27PM

Nice cuds on that first one.

REALGATOR · January 28, 2018 6:02PM

There are very few original skin Bust Quarters that I would consider "dreck". I'm sure plenty of type set collectors would be very happy with your 1806. This series when broken down into varieties is quite the challenge where sometimes a "details" coin might be the most attractive example known.

blitzdude · January 28, 2018 6:14PM

Look fine to me but if YOU don't think they have good eye appeal maybe you purchased them when you were on the sauce. When we don the ole beer googles everything always has more eye appeal.

1TwoBits · January 28, 2018 10:59PM

The 1806 B-2 LDS is very eye appealing to me, and both are great additions.

The rare 1835 B-8 is difficult in high grades, so that's a nice find. I always liked the reverse die with the die crack through STATES. The reverse die was used for 1835 B-8, 1836 B-1, 1836 B-5, 1837 B-1, 1837 B-3, & 1837 B-4. It saw a lot of use and all the varieties produced are scarcer, ranging from R3-R5.

The rim cuds on the LDS 1806 are interesting to study. My example is about the same die state as yours, but a bit worn around 3:00-5:00.

1TwoBits

BLUEJAYWAY · January 29, 2018 1:17AM

Not dreck at all. Those coins have "character".

ldhair · January 29, 2018 4:18AM

I like them both but the 1806 is really nice. I love that look.

Treashunt · January 29, 2018 4:23AM

If that is dreck, I'll take a box of them

spacehayduke · January 29, 2018 5:50AM

Thanks everyone for the nice and interesting posts. TwoBits - thanks for the information on the B-8 reverse die (reverse die M of Rea et al.) and its further use. Looking at Rea et al., it does not seem that reverse die M degraded with time. The one die crack persisted and did not grow as it continued to be paired with the other obverse dies you mention. However, many of those obverse dies degraded during the minting. One tough die.

Of course, in a perfect world, all of my quarters would look like this one below - but alas, this is the real world and one learns to appreciate what one can get in rare die states and die marriages.

Best, SH