Update #4 - Completed Circulated Classic Silver Commemorative Type Set

Writing to share what I'm hopeful will be a nice downgrade for my Boone type coin .... my current set example is a 1934 dated coin certified as PCGS XF40 ... and was shown on a prior page.

I recently purchased the following 1936 dated Boone ... an example I believe (if authentic) will certify in the VF30 range.

Relative to authenticity ... there are quite a few scary good Boone counterfeits out there ... and I happen to be the owner of a circulated counterfeit 1935-D example that had me completely fooled.

The ebay seller of this coin has agreed to extend my return privilege until the PCGS Wizards weigh in with their views .... wondering what you think?

1936 Boone - VF30 (Raw)



The coin is on it's way to PCGS .... we'll know the results in a few months.

David

Very nice addition! I agree that its state of preservation is definitely lower than an XF-40 - should be a nice downgrade for you! The coin even exhibits a bit of the "Circulation Cameo" effect that we've discussed here in the past. I find such circulated coins visually appealing.

Thanks for the update!

Very nice downgrade!

That's for sure. Great find!

The PCGS Wizards are still considering their views on the lowball 1918 Illinois (Lincoln) shown on the prior page ... I've now waited 44 business days on the 'economy' submittal rate ... hopeful that it someday makes it to the grading floor.

Good news is that the 'regular' submittal rate Boone was rendered a Wizards opinion relatively quickly ...

1936 Boone Bicentennial Half Dollar - PCGS VF25



This is a very challenging coin to find in honestly circulated state. As a member of the 'commemorative craze' era there are a total of 16 different possible Boone date/mm/variety possible to collect ... and of that entire population of coins there are a total of 3 Boone graded lower at PCGS.

I'm thrilled to have this downgrade in my set ... and my prior XF40 type coin has been passed along to another member of our very small family pursuing this somewhat niche collecting effort.

Enjoy - David

Must agree. Love the commems but have no interest in seeing them in severely worn grades, no matter how rare.

Then you are going to hate the following lowball example.

1923-S Monroe Doctrine Centennial Half - PO01 (Raw)




I believe this example is a slam-dunk for PO01 once the wizards complete their evaluation. That would make it the 6th such example certified by PCGS.

There is some numismatic information available from these coins that cannot be readily discerned from their MS brethren ... evidence of the original morphology of the coins relative to levels of relief.

We have spoken about this in the prior pages of this long running thread ... on 12/3/2014 (Page 23) we had a fun discussion trying to figure out reasons why the 1921 Alabama rim wore at differential rates ... and on 7/17/2015 (page 26) I shared a comparison of the morphology of a PO01 vs MS Stone Mountain.

Sooo ... for fun ... let's do so again with this Monroe Doctrine. For comparison ... here is my PCGS MS64/CAC example:



Be mindful of my 'assumptions' made during the Alabama rim discussion (Page 23) ... key here are that a coin with significant wear received that wear uniformly across all surfaces over it's lifetime and the points of higher relief wear first versus the points of lower relief.

Sooo ... for the 1923-S Monroe Doctrine half we can make the following points regarding original relief:

Obverse:

The legend IGWT in the left field is of higher relief than the conjoined Presidential busts

What appears as a planchet flaw at the jaws of the conjoined busts is in fact the lowest point of relief on the busts.

Only James Monroe eye socket remains as any detail of the conjoined busts ... and is in fact the lowest point of relief on the busts

The legend Monroe - Adams in the lower field is likely the lowest point of relief on the entire obverse ... but we need a more worn example to know for sure.

Reverse:

What appears to be a planchet flaw near the center of the coin is in fact a low point of relief where the North American figure is reaching out to the South American figure.

Interesting to observe that the top half of the North American figure and the lower portion of the South American figure are the lowest points of relief on the reverse.

Always great fun ... and learning ... to compare these tremendous coins between very worn and MS states.

Enjoy - David