Options
AU 58 - the best grade for the money
ANACONDA
Posts: 4,692 ✭
I bought a 1794 Half Cent in NGC AU58 yesterday.
I was really happy. I paid less than 60 grey sheet money for it and it's virtually mark free and has no perceptible wear on it...and is well centered and fully struck. Great luster for the type. A mint state 64 coin with a little rub....apparently.)
So, never being able to stop thinking unless i'm unconscious, one of my plagues, i set about for the last 45 seconds of the day before i began to sleep, to figure out why i was so happy about the coin.
So...here's why. (My apologies to all you out there who are 40 points ahead of me.....)
You want the biggest bang for the buck, right? You don't care about investment, you care about getting the most eye appealing coins for the limited amount of money you have.
AU 58 is your grade especially if you're a type collector who wants to "finish" the series this century. You know that....intuitively. But in some ways, it's hard to put your finger on just why.
The reason it's the best grade is because wear and marks are the enemy ....AND, more importantly...
wear isn't a factor when it comes to mint state coins (they don't have wear) AND ...
marks aren't a factor when it comes to circulated coins (wear is the consideration, not marks). (Yes, i know that is a simplistic view but for the most part it's on the money)
So, you can get the least amount of wear known to man AND the fewest marks for less money than the most acne ridden coin that has slipped over the "no wear" fence, on the other side of the wear/marks line of demarcation.
Of course there are pock marked AU 58 coins out there BUT most really nice coins especially early type coins, some of the most avidly collected ones, like the one i picked up were obtained by collectors out of pocket change at the time they circulated....just because they were eye appealing exemplars....usually clean and well struck. I mean, which state quarters are ending up now in cardboard holders...the nice ones or the marked up ones? Even my mother upgrades out of pocket change.
There you have it. Not well articulated but for one minute of thought and just enough time for anaconda2 to get a bath before we head over to the Baltimore show, i'd say i get at least a C+. (Feel free to lambast me or add to my thoughts, not that you needed an invitation for either...)
By the way, for those of you coming to the Baltimore show, Sean, aka anaconda2 has a 20 foot anaconda skin on the table behind his cases. (In case you've never seen one of those.)
Just look up Anaconda Rare Coins in your show handbook - we have two tables that are not next to each other - but they are close to each other.
adrian
I was really happy. I paid less than 60 grey sheet money for it and it's virtually mark free and has no perceptible wear on it...and is well centered and fully struck. Great luster for the type. A mint state 64 coin with a little rub....apparently.)
So, never being able to stop thinking unless i'm unconscious, one of my plagues, i set about for the last 45 seconds of the day before i began to sleep, to figure out why i was so happy about the coin.
So...here's why. (My apologies to all you out there who are 40 points ahead of me.....)
You want the biggest bang for the buck, right? You don't care about investment, you care about getting the most eye appealing coins for the limited amount of money you have.
AU 58 is your grade especially if you're a type collector who wants to "finish" the series this century. You know that....intuitively. But in some ways, it's hard to put your finger on just why.
The reason it's the best grade is because wear and marks are the enemy ....AND, more importantly...
wear isn't a factor when it comes to mint state coins (they don't have wear) AND ...
marks aren't a factor when it comes to circulated coins (wear is the consideration, not marks). (Yes, i know that is a simplistic view but for the most part it's on the money)
So, you can get the least amount of wear known to man AND the fewest marks for less money than the most acne ridden coin that has slipped over the "no wear" fence, on the other side of the wear/marks line of demarcation.
Of course there are pock marked AU 58 coins out there BUT most really nice coins especially early type coins, some of the most avidly collected ones, like the one i picked up were obtained by collectors out of pocket change at the time they circulated....just because they were eye appealing exemplars....usually clean and well struck. I mean, which state quarters are ending up now in cardboard holders...the nice ones or the marked up ones? Even my mother upgrades out of pocket change.
There you have it. Not well articulated but for one minute of thought and just enough time for anaconda2 to get a bath before we head over to the Baltimore show, i'd say i get at least a C+. (Feel free to lambast me or add to my thoughts, not that you needed an invitation for either...)
By the way, for those of you coming to the Baltimore show, Sean, aka anaconda2 has a 20 foot anaconda skin on the table behind his cases. (In case you've never seen one of those.)
Just look up Anaconda Rare Coins in your show handbook - we have two tables that are not next to each other - but they are close to each other.
adrian
0
Comments
Very good observation again Adrian!
NEVER LET HIPPO MOUTH OVERLOAD HUMMINGBIRD BUTT!!!
WORK HARDER!!!!
Millions on WELFARE depend on you!
some AU 58's are the best grade for the money
- I have seen many AU58's that would be ugly 60's or 61's except for the slight rub
the really nice AU 58's are the ones who would be 64's 65's 66's....
-like the one you mention, nice eye appeal, really good luster, well struck
so if you buy AU 58's sight unseen, more often than not you will get a dog
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
Was the 1794 Half cent a C1a perhaps? If so, I have a story about it.
Gene
Tom
Looking for PCGS AU58 Washington's, 32-63.