It's lot 597, in an ANACS 40/40 holder. On page 12 there's a color photo of it, the actual lot is on page 80. It sold as the second most expensive item for just $27,500. $220 behind the most expensive item, a 1921 Double Eagle in ANACS 62/63
That's a shame about the details grade by PCGS. Could hurt the value when it comes time to sell, but at least both NGC and ANACS both have straight grades on it. I wouldn't ever remove it from that holder though.
There was a time when PCGS considered most adjustment marks to be grounds for detailing a coin. They have tempered that a bit, and only the exceptionally heavy adjustment marks seem to snag details designations now. Adjustments around the rim are far less likely to make a coin detailed than adjustments through the center of the planchet.
Adjustment marks don't bother many of us. It's part of the history of our coins.
It might be interesting to research the people who made the early adjustments. That's a missing part of the history of the mint. (My wife just leaned over and said "No dear, that wouldn't be interesting. It would be nerdy." *sigh*)
FWIW, the coin adjusting room in Philadelphia was active into the 20th Century, mainly with gold coins.
I wonder if the altered surfaces designation by PCGS was in regards to the adjustment marks or if they saw something else they didn't like? It would be nice if they gave a little more explanation as to their decisions, especially when it comes to a high value coins like this one. Regardless, still an amazing coin
This was the Heritage assessment of the coin when it was in the PCGS details holder. Not too bad I think.
"The coin is currently encased in a PCGS Genuine holder with XF Details, with "Altered Surfaces" the reason (or one of the reasons) it did not receive a numeric grade. There are no overt signs of surface alteration other than a silver-gray patina that is perhaps overly light for a 1794 dollar. Some faint hairlines indicate an old cleaning, but they are barely visible on the coin. Several Mint-related adjustment marks appear at the obverse margins, with strike weakness along the left border and incompleteness at STATES on the reverse. A moderate rim bump at 4 o'clock on the reverse is noted, as are three linear planchet streaks in the right obverse field from star 12 to the neck. Two or three small planchet flaws exist, not unexpected for this early dollar.
The hair definition is strong and Liberty's cheek full and rounded. Likewise, the eagle's wing feathers and tailfeathers are individually sharp, and the eagle's head is well-formed. Now slate-gray in color with some deep-gray accents, the surfaces retain considerable appeal. The few collectors fortunate enough to seek a 1794 dollar will find this a suitable representative of the classic American issue, our nation's first silver dollar coinage."
The coin more than holds it's own in the NGC XF45 holder when compared to other examples at the same grade. From looking at the photos from the 80's it appears that the coin may have been conserved and PCGS did not like it, thus, the Heritage comments about the light patina.
Quote: It might be interesting to research the people who made the early adjustments.
I don't know about that era but my impression from mint records in the late 1800s is that many (most?) adjusting room employees were women. In New Orleans in April 1900 they averaged 352 planchets per hour, each! https://archive.org/details/rg104en...109/mode/2up
The previous "details" grade seems pretty picky to me. I see the same "halo" below the chin and neck in the 1987 auction pic.
This is a picture of women working in the the weight adjustment department in the NOLA Mint. Women began working at Treasury in large numbers during the Civil War when all the men were away fighting the War. Happened again in WWI and WWII.
Another interesting fact was that in the early days, overweight planchets were filed to get then down to the correct weight, but underweight planchets, which were later just melted with the scrap, back in the 18th century, Mint workers would drill a hole in the center and place an overweight silver plug in order to increase the weight of the planchet. This would be more work than it was worth and when steam metal rollers were introduced, underweight planchets were thrown in the melt scrapheap. That's why early Mint plugged coins are rare and prized today.
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Posted 10/09/2021 08:24 am
