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 Replies: 12 / Views: 3,411 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
As I posted in the bullion forum earlier, I found the following coin in a bag of well circulated Liberty Head (Barber) half dollars I purchased from APMEX back in December:   I pulled this one out and put it aside when I realized that 1897-O was apparently significantly more valuable than most Barber halves. The condition, though, obviously leaves much to desired... Anyway, I have compared it to the pics on the PCGS Photograde site and it looks like it would come in at or around G04 (which would make it worth about $132, according to numismedia.com). If it's below G04, I have no idea what it would be worth (other than melt value, of course). So... What do you all think? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
836 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
AG3 obverse, G4 reverse...so G4
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6388 Posts |
Other way around I think, with a G4 obverse (barely) and an AG reverse. I'd value it as an AG, still worth well over melt. Here's my 1897-O for which I paid $40. My coin has a better obverse and a much more worn reverse and I would give it the same AG grade. Your piece by comparison is a choice AG! Excellent find from a generic circulated Barber half lot. Congrats!   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
I agree G4 obverse, AG reverse due to letters merging and some unreadable letters. Probably halve the value of the G4 for an estimate on worth.
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5855 Posts |
Quote:
AG reverse due to letters merging and some unreadable letters. This is what the reverse of the G04 example on the PCGS site looks like:  Plenty of unreadable letters there as well, and I'm having a hard time telling the difference in grade. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Here's a side-by-side comparison of my coin and the G04 example on the PCGS site:   |
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
Yeah yours looks slightly more worn to me, or maybe more unevenly (on the reverse). It's common for these to be graded AG because of the reverse rim, even like that. Its high end AG though IMO.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6388 Posts |
IMO the PCGS coin is overgraded by 1 point. It would be interesting to see what they did with your coin. If you want to sell getting it into a G-4 holder would potentially increase the value enough to cover the grading fee.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
I dont know...maybe PCGS is a bit liberal with the obverse (or maybe I'm too conservative) I stand by my AG3.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Yah, this is one coin I would actually consider getting graded and slabbed, especially since it's not going into an album. Of course, I don't know how cost effective it would be to try and get one coin graded by PCGS (especially since I'm not a member of their "Collectors Club"). I wonder if it would be worth trying to locate a "PCGS Authorized Dealer" and what the cost would be for that?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Well, I brought this coin to the local coin shop over my lunch break today since the owner is listed as a "PCGS Authorized Dealer."
He strongly recommended against having the coin sent in for grading since, in his opinion, the coin wouldn't grade better than AG3. As others in this thread have mentioned, the deciding factor was the lack of a visible rim on the reverse.
Ah well. I have no clue what this coin is worth in AG (maybe the $40 that Jaobler mentioned he paid for his), but it's still worth over melt and was great to find it in a bag of junk silver.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 3,411 |
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Posted 01/18/2012 12:11 pm
