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 Replies: 30 / Views: 5,861 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
Does the term allow for any signs of wear or abuse? Not in my book. But that may be different from any "official" definition of the term. For me, BU means two things: 1) that there are no wear marks of any kind; and 2) the luster and finish of the coin appear as they would have when it was 1st minted. Like the term "jumbo", however, it can easily mean different things to different people. It seems to be mostly a subjective term and not a definitive one. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
808 Posts |
Quote:Ed_B said: Quote:
coinwatch said:
Does the term allow for any signs of wear or abuse? Not in my book. But that may be different from any "official" definition of the term. For me, BU means two things: 1) that there are no wear marks of any kind; and 2) the luster and finish of the coin appear as they would have when it was 1st minted. Like the term "jumbo", however, it can easily mean different things to different people. It seems to be mostly a subjective term and not a definitive one. At this point I'm pretty convinced that that this coin is not BU by any definition. Darn shame too. Were it not for the drilled (or tapped) hole on the obverse side, this would have been a keeper. An absolutely beautiful coin needlessly damaged. Why would anyone do this to an otherwise perfect AGE coin? For assay? This cannot be a common practice, can it? Edited by coinwatch
03/11/2012 6:21 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
My opinion only: Would I buy an absolutely perfect silver coin with even gunmetal toning? OR Would I buy an absolutely perfect silver coin with cartwheel lustre? (equivalent coin) No brainer for me - first option. A NO  ! With such hypothetical coins 200 years old, which would be the rarest? Edited by sel_69l
03/11/2012 6:24 pm
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
I don't know, don't use it.
60-70 for me.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
At this point I'm pretty convinced that that this coin is not BU by any definition. Darn shame too. Were it not for the drilled (or tapped) hole on the obverse side, this would have been a keeper. An absolutely beautiful coin needlessly damaged. Why would anyone do this to an otherwise perfect AGE coin? For assay? This cannot be a common practice, can it? I would agree that this coin is not BU by most definitions I have seen for BU. Yes, it is a shame that someone damaged a perfectly nice coin that way. It would be interesting to know WHY they did this. I don't know... maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time and only later seemed really foolish. Hard to say without knowing the real story. I would sure hope that this was not a common practice! The few AGEs that I have seen have all be extremely well cared for and protected. They are quite valuable and certainly deserve the best care we can give them. On the other hand, there ARE people in the world who buy some very nice things and then treat them very poorly.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
My standards:
U - no sign of handling, including fingerprints. - 60
BU - same, at least 50% red
ChBU - 63
GemBU - 65
Select BU - 67
Perfect - 70
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1054 Posts |
Well, according to what I think is a lateral Sheldon grade for BU is MS60-63 tops. And choice BU is 64-65 and of course the gem designation pumps it up to 66+ and so on. It's been widely talked about in the hobby, dealers, graders and so on, it's subjective at best. I think most inexperienced sellers on ebay overuse the BU terminology when they either have better graded pieces or less. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5863 Posts |
Well, for whatever it's worth, APMEX describes their Brilliant Uncirculated coins as "grade MS-60 to MS-63." |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Every non-proof finish ASE on ebay I've ever purchased is sold as BU. In my experience, it has told me next to nothing re: numerical grade. Edited by traevin
03/17/2012 12:33 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
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In my experience, it has told my next to nothing re: numerical grade. That's not a surprise, though. These are non-graded bullion coins, so not having a specific grade assigned to them is in keeping with their status as bullion. We all have some idea of what BU, AU, XF, F, and so on mean to us. I know that I have no expertise at coin grading but, like a lot of collectors, I know what looks good to me and what doesn't. Although I only collect bullion coins and bars I do like them to look nice, so no beat up bullion for me.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1502 Posts |
Being quite ignorant in the numismatic grading field, I always thought that BU described the finish used on bullion coins... I swear some sellers use the acronym as such, e.g. BU versus PF finished ASE. definitely learned something here! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Px, One of my pet peeves is when I ask someone to give me an approx. grade of a coin on ebay because the picture's too indistinct to make my own determination and the seller responds with, "It's a proof," as if that tells me anything about the actual shape the coin's in. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Exactly so. Being a proof is fine and dandy but... is it STILL in proof condition? I can take a proof and roll it down a long hill in a sack full of rocks. When it gets to the bottom of that long hill, it will still be a proof. It will also be all beat up and nasty looking. :-/
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Replies: 30 / Views: 5,861 |
First Page
Posted 03/11/2012 5:36 pm
