Guess the grade, Half Cents, Large Cent

CarlWohlforth · July 28, 2003 5:19AM

Just back from PCGS.

1828 Half Cent Obverse
1828 Reverse
1855 Half Cent Obverse
1855 Reverse

This one is not as red as the photo:
1850 Large Cent Obverse
1850 Reverse

Comments are very welcome. I need to learn what I missed.

scv3502 · July 28, 2003 5:35AM

WOW

tjkillian · July 28, 2003 6:44AM

1828 - MS-64 Brown, Great Luster, slightly non-uniform color on the reverse

1855 - MS-65 Brown, Great luster, a couple a tiny spots, very uniform color, great strike

1850 - MS-64 Details, but wrong color, may be body bagged by PCGS

Nice coins, by the way.

Tom

Bustman · July 28, 2003 6:45AM

65 bn
64 bn
65 rb?

BigMoose · July 28, 2003 6:51AM

1) 1828 half cent-- 64BN
2) 1855 half cent-- 64BN
3) 1850 large cent-- 65BN

BigMoose · July 28, 2003 6:52AM

And all very nice coins, I might add!!

rays · July 28, 2003 7:10AM

These are beautiful coins. The color is a little funny on both, would either one happen to be a proof? The denticles don't look strong enough for proofs.

My guess is MS64 and MS63.

CarlWohlforth · July 28, 2003 8:30AM

Thanks for the comments. I was attracted to the color on these coins. I called it a metallic sheen. I looked at a bunch of coins and a few had colors like these three.

dorkkarl · July 28, 2003 9:07AM

1828: au-58 - ms-61

1855: ms-61+

1850: ms-62+

note: extremely difficult to grade by your digi-pic's, above au, should be graded by what amount of luster remains present, which is impossible to detect in your digi-pic's.

K S

coinkat · July 28, 2003 9:48AM

I like the 1855 1/2 CENT best and I would call it MS62. The 1850 LC looks to me to have a color issue but it could just be the way the coin was scanned. If the color is okay, it could be 63 or even 64. The 1828 seems to be a little flat and I would say MS61

CarlWohlforth · July 28, 2003 10:47PM

Thanks for the feedback! The 1828 Half Cent does lack in the luster department. Still I was surprised to see it only received a MS 60. I like the strike and lack of marks. The few tiny divets I see appear to be planchet flaws rather than contact marks.

I like the strange color on these coins. The 1850 Large Cent isn't as red/purple as my photo suggests, it looks more natural in person. It was slabbed by PCGS as MS 63. The 1855 Half Cent has the best luster in the group and is also MS 63.

So it seems to me, from this limited experience, that luster is more important than strike and amount of marks on earlier copper coins.

dorkkarl · July 29, 2003 12:30AM

carlwohlforth, you remember i came down pretty hard on you in another thread, where you were worried about coins you bought not slabing as high as what you bought them as.

i wouldn't sweat it!

as you can see, i was pretty well in line w/ pcgs's opinion, but the bottom line is, YOU like the coins because for YOU, strike/lack of marks is more important then luster.

so why in the he11 do you CARE what pcgs would grade the coins?

ENJOY them for what they are, ie. coins that meet YOUR criteria for what is a nice coin.

the question is not that you "need to learn how to grade", but rather that you need to learn how to be honest w/ yourself, & not get so tied up in someon else's opinon. i think you did very well by buying these coins, strictly because you like 'em.

K S

CarlWohlforth · July 29, 2003 1:00AM

<< <i>so why in the he11 do you CARE what pcgs would grade the coins? >>

I care very much what PCGS grades coins. This is because I care about resale value. I'd rather take a %30 loss on than a %50 loss.

If I was planning on spending $100/month and getting nothing back when I sold the coins I wouldn't care. Everybody spends money on their hobby.

The problem comes when someone who can afford to spend $100/month spends $500 with the rationalization that they can sell the coin later for $400. In their mind they are spending their budget. However when they learn they can only get $300 back they have overspent and are disappointed.

<< <i>ENJOY them for what they are, ie. coins that meet YOUR criteria for what is a nice coin >>

Hey, I used to like blast white, cleaned coins. When I gained a little education I don't like cleaned coins anymore. What I like is influenced by what others like. It must be as I care about resale value. If I'm the only one who likes a certain look I should be getting the coin at a discount as it will be hard to find somebody else who also likes that look.

I would like to buy more early copper for my type set. I doubt I will buy any expensive raw coins. However I will certainly be much more interested in how much luster they have, raw or slabbed.

Cam40 · July 29, 2003 1:21AM

without first reading all the guess I looked at the coins.

then without just registering my answer i read the guesses.

BigMoose and I are on the same page it seems. He posted the same thing I was thinking.

BigE · July 29, 2003 1:35AM

They are great coins Carl, they may have been a little conservative on the 1855 because of the reverse spots-------BigE

Shamika · July 29, 2003 2:39AM

I too would have graded these coins much higher than PCGS.

dorkkarl · July 29, 2003 2:41AM

then it sounds to me like the real problem is that you'r not sure of yourself. in that case, i would suggest that, for a while at least, you take all the time you had been spending on ,uh, spending $, & instead spend that same amt. of time learning from a real coin dealer. it sounds like you enjoy copper. how much time have you spent talking w/ tom reynolds? or tony terranova? or whoever?

again, i truly am not trying to be critical, just trying to save you from a little heartache. you'll never be satisfied whether the coin is raw or slabed - because you're not really sure what you like. when you figure that out, you'll find that the search becomes a whole lot easier.

just my worthless opinion

K S

Guess the grade, Half Cents, Large Cent

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