1853 Half Dollar

AU55 details. Don't the halos around the stars indicate it has been cleaned at some time?

I AM NOT an expert with these.
The details around Liberty's mouth area is very soft.

I think it will grade AU-53 at the most. The obverse has a lot of friction with traces of luster around the stars and in the design. The more protected reverse has much less friction and much more luster. There are hairlines but to me they appear to be from circulation than from abrasive cleaning. Beautiful coin!



Halos can be found on coins considered problem and problem free. Determining the cause probably comes down to experience looking at many coins and knowing what coins should look like. It is not unusual to see halos on coins that fall on the EF/AU borderline.

This one confuses me a bit. I'd probably go AU details for the following reason:
- Luster on reverse seems to be almost full
- Luster on obverse seems to be limited to near the fields
- I dont see much outright wear on the obverse to make me think it matches up with the luster that is gone.

That said, I could see it in an AU53 if it looks right in hand. Since there arent many open fields in the reverse, perhaps it's more of an indication of the luster not having a chance to be worn off yet?

My Two Cents.

A strong AU coin but seems a little too bright, great arrows and rays.