A quick look at PCGS grading of Draped Bust halves in middle circulated grades.
rhedden
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Yesterday, I posted a "guess the grade" thread on an 1805 half dollar graded VF30 by PCGS. Most forum members undergraded it, and some went as low as F12. You can read this thread here. Congrats to the forum members who correctly graded it VF30 or VF25+. I suspect those folks are likely among the most experienced in collecting and grading Bust coins.
For the rest of us, I present to you a photo tutorial of PCGS-graded 1805 half dollars in "middle circulated grades." All images were adapted from publicly accessible photos in the Heritage Auction Archives for educational purposes only, and copyrights belong to Heritage. If this bothers anyone, I will take them down after we done discussing, as I do not wish to violate any rules or impinge on copyrights. We are fortunate that Heritage makes their archives accessible to everyone, as the large number of photos serve as a useful educational tool for both grading purposes and price research. Such information was not always available to collectors.
Turning to the photos below, all coins pictured below were graded by PCGS as indicated. One of the things you will notice immediately is that there is a lot of variation in striking characteristics between die marriages, which confuses the grading issue a lot. A lot of knowledge about the series is necessary to accurately grade any individual coin. A second observation is that some of the coins have original surfaces, and some do not, and the difference is glaring when the photos are compared side-by-side. A final observation is that coins with a fully readable E PLURIBUS UNUM are a virtual lock to grade VF30 or higher. Coins grading F12 or F15 typically have only a few letters visible in the Motto, while VF20 and VF25 coins have partial motto. I imagine there are coins with poorly struck, partially visible Motto that could grade VF30 or higher, but I did not find any in my search up to VF35. I find the Motto to be a much more reliable indicator of wear compared to the amount of hair detail on the obverse, which varies wildly between die marriages.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing this lineup, which was quite a bit of work to compile due to the need to resize the photos for a fair comparison. If desired, maybe someone can add higher and lower grade coins to expand the range covered.
PCGS VF35 (below)
PCGS VF30 (below)
PCGS VF25 (below)
PCGS VF20 (below)
PCGS F15 (below)
PCGS F12 (below)
For the rest of us, I present to you a photo tutorial of PCGS-graded 1805 half dollars in "middle circulated grades." All images were adapted from publicly accessible photos in the Heritage Auction Archives for educational purposes only, and copyrights belong to Heritage. If this bothers anyone, I will take them down after we done discussing, as I do not wish to violate any rules or impinge on copyrights. We are fortunate that Heritage makes their archives accessible to everyone, as the large number of photos serve as a useful educational tool for both grading purposes and price research. Such information was not always available to collectors.
Turning to the photos below, all coins pictured below were graded by PCGS as indicated. One of the things you will notice immediately is that there is a lot of variation in striking characteristics between die marriages, which confuses the grading issue a lot. A lot of knowledge about the series is necessary to accurately grade any individual coin. A second observation is that some of the coins have original surfaces, and some do not, and the difference is glaring when the photos are compared side-by-side. A final observation is that coins with a fully readable E PLURIBUS UNUM are a virtual lock to grade VF30 or higher. Coins grading F12 or F15 typically have only a few letters visible in the Motto, while VF20 and VF25 coins have partial motto. I imagine there are coins with poorly struck, partially visible Motto that could grade VF30 or higher, but I did not find any in my search up to VF35. I find the Motto to be a much more reliable indicator of wear compared to the amount of hair detail on the obverse, which varies wildly between die marriages.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing this lineup, which was quite a bit of work to compile due to the need to resize the photos for a fair comparison. If desired, maybe someone can add higher and lower grade coins to expand the range covered.
PCGS VF35 (below)
PCGS VF30 (below)
PCGS VF25 (below)
PCGS VF20 (below)
PCGS F15 (below)
PCGS F12 (below)
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Comments
Edited to add, Its also my only draped bust half, so I am by far a grading expert on these as I don't even look at them very often.
type2,CCHunter.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
IMHO PCGS does a very good job of grading these by not overgrading coins made from the earlier dies.
F12
F15
VF20
VF25
F12
These are the two that I still own, there's just some coins that you can't say goodbye to!
VG10
XF40
Lance.
<< <i>Here are a couple more higher-grade 1805's.
Lance.
Them are really nice bust halves, do you own them?
it is a series i've never truly dabbled in
this is an excellent thread....i applaud you here for the time n effort too
so i guess my 1806 cbh that i wear around my neck would be a vf30-ish if it didn't have the hole in it
<< <i>
<< <i>Here are a couple more higher-grade 1805's.
Lance. >>
Them are really nice bust halves, do you own them? >>
Nope, just shot them.
The 1805/4 O.101 R3 is PCGS AU50. The other, O.111 R2, is PCGS AU58.
Lance.
I grade your coin VF25 for details based on the sequence of coins above; the motto is nearly complete. However, PCGS may have bumped it down a notch due to a few insignificant scratches. The reverse small scratch from N of UNITED to the left of the shield could be the culprit. I own numerous PCGS early type coins that fall into this category. It does appear to have nice original skin for the grade.
PCGS VF-30:
PCGS VF-25:
PCGS VF-30:
10-4,
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