Why I love AU-58 and hate MS60, MS61, MS62
Pushkin
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First I want to state that I’m referring to accurately graded coins – not the label.
In two of the series I collect, Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents, the real sleepers are the AU-58s. Probably the most spectacular example is the 1858/7 Flying eagle cent.
Numismedia prices for 1858/7 Flying Eagle cents:
AU-55 $1970
AU-58 $2,060
MS-60 $3,090
MS-61 $3,560
MS-62 $5.630
MS-63 $9,660 (more like $10,000 to 13,000 for EDS, VEDS)
MS-64 $22,750
I bought a MS-62 for $4,900 several years ago to play the registry set game. The coin just made early die state (EDS) with part of the serif of the “7” visible. Unappealing dark toning, many small hits, a dog of a coin, ugly as a drunken old hag, but cheap compared to the MS-63s at $10,000. It provided me with a bucket of registry points and a stomach ache every time I looked at it. I finally wised up and sold the mangy dog for a few hundred dollars loss. Recently I picked up a beautiful 1858/7 AU-58 VEDS (very early die state – complete serif of the “7” boldly visible) for $2700. Paid very strong money and I have no regrets at all. This AU-58 blows away EVERY MS61-62 I’ve ever seen, with one exception, and has better eye appeal than several MS-63s that I've examined. Yes, there is just a little tiny bit of rub on the Eagle’s breast feathers (fondling?), but the fields and devices are as clean as ANY MS-63 (the obverse of this AU-58 is a solid MS-63).
MS61 and MS62 Flying Eagle cents are usually ugly, full of hits, and often retoned.
The same, for me, is true of many IHCs, MS-61s and MS62s are often vomit ugly, and MS-63 Reds, AWFUL! A beautiful AU-58 Flyer or IHC will never give you indigestion.
In two of the series I collect, Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents, the real sleepers are the AU-58s. Probably the most spectacular example is the 1858/7 Flying eagle cent.
Numismedia prices for 1858/7 Flying Eagle cents:
AU-55 $1970
AU-58 $2,060
MS-60 $3,090
MS-61 $3,560
MS-62 $5.630
MS-63 $9,660 (more like $10,000 to 13,000 for EDS, VEDS)
MS-64 $22,750
I bought a MS-62 for $4,900 several years ago to play the registry set game. The coin just made early die state (EDS) with part of the serif of the “7” visible. Unappealing dark toning, many small hits, a dog of a coin, ugly as a drunken old hag, but cheap compared to the MS-63s at $10,000. It provided me with a bucket of registry points and a stomach ache every time I looked at it. I finally wised up and sold the mangy dog for a few hundred dollars loss. Recently I picked up a beautiful 1858/7 AU-58 VEDS (very early die state – complete serif of the “7” boldly visible) for $2700. Paid very strong money and I have no regrets at all. This AU-58 blows away EVERY MS61-62 I’ve ever seen, with one exception, and has better eye appeal than several MS-63s that I've examined. Yes, there is just a little tiny bit of rub on the Eagle’s breast feathers (fondling?), but the fields and devices are as clean as ANY MS-63 (the obverse of this AU-58 is a solid MS-63).
MS61 and MS62 Flying Eagle cents are usually ugly, full of hits, and often retoned.
The same, for me, is true of many IHCs, MS-61s and MS62s are often vomit ugly, and MS-63 Reds, AWFUL! A beautiful AU-58 Flyer or IHC will never give you indigestion.
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Bruce Scher
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
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Lucy!
PCGS AU-58 1858/7
MS-70* Birman
(Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)
In fact, I do not want ANY mint state FE cent for my collection. Only AU-50 to AU-58.
Here is my AU-50 PCGS 1856 FE cent (depite what appears in the pics, there are NO splotches and the breast feathers are separate and distinct on that high point):
1856 FE Cent PCGS AU-50
I saw a 1856 AU58 last year that was beautiful too. I suspect it's now in a low-MS holder.
Great coin, Pushkin.
I also remember being less knowledgable and listening intently as I was told " This coin is very borderline. It is either AU58, or MS 60, you be the judge." I have heard that at least 100 times. I actually had an argument with a very nice, honest, dealer that I like over whether this was possible. To me an AU58 without the rub would have to be at least a 63-64. A MS60 with rub could not be higher than AU53. Why someone's pride might make them prefer an ugly UNC to a pleasing AU, I will never understand.
<< <i>In fact my semi keys $1's 1896O/1897O's in MS60/1 were cheaper than AU-58's I guess because everyone assumed that every MS60/1 is an ugly problem coin. Mostly they are--just not all the time. >>
Well, in my experience, condition rarities like '96-O and '97-O are likely to be undergraded (perhaps to not screw up the pops and/or risk a big loss on a grade guarantee), so I can easily imagine some nice MS-61s that would probably go 63 if it were a common date.
1882-O/S VAM-5 NGC MS60DPL Morgan
The images were just simple scans on my flatbed and still look nice, just don't show the mirrors as much as the marks.
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