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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,098 |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Hello, I am new not only to this forum but to coins as a whole. I usually collect modern bullion coins, silver eagles, gold eagles, etc. Anyhow, I started buying older coins for a project, I honestly have no idea what I am really doing. However, I got the bug I guess and am trying to learn. The images are not great and it looks better in real life, everything is legible on the coin, heavily circulated, but less than many I have seen on auctions. I know not to clean it, but it is tarnished, patina(?). I got this 1808 half dollar, can anyone tell me what they think and if it is a decent coin and what the estimated value might be, will not hold anyone to anything, just curious. I know it is not some super rare coin or worth thousands or anything, so no expectations. I am grateful for any help and feel free to yell if I did anything wrong or helpful links for new collectors like me. THANK YOU!   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1511 Posts |
 First off a good place to begin learning how to grade your coins would be PCGS photograde (you can just google it and it'll pop up, I don't have the link of hand as I have the App for my phone) but that'll give on a walk throughn on each series of US coin with examples/photos of each grade. And once you have a rough grade for pricing I usually use numismedia.com for an value estimate (their prices are still a bit high IMHO). And another thing is to search completed ebay listings to see what the coins are selling for right now. The RedBook would be a good investment as well, there's a priceguide in there but by the time they write, edit, publish, print and sell the books the prices have changed. But as far as information goes its a great investment, some of the rarer varieties/errors, mintages, years, history etc. great book, especially for beginners.. As for the half you posted.. Nice early date. The eagles beak looks kind of funny to me.. Maybe it's just the photos though. But it looks like a wolf head in the photo. But there's nothing else on the coin that jumps out at me as suspitious. Where'd you get it? And if you don't mind answering what'd you pay? It's obviously quite worn... Again hard to tell from the photos.. But I'd put her around G-6 to VG-8, value of maybe $70-$80... But again it's hard to tell the grade from these photos.. And again, welcome to the community, ask as many questions as you like, everyone here is happy to help!! |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
18673 Posts |
The pics are a little out of focus but I think it could go to F12 which would put it in the $100 to 120 range. Not bad for a 200 yr old coin and a nice start to a collection. Also welcome...this is a great forum to learn and share knowledge. The best and most active I have ever seen. Do some research on this site on taking pics it will help so that you can get more accurate grades
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1959 Posts |
The grade that popped into my head right off is VG-10. The early designs if this series are a bit flat when struck. It may bring an F-12 on a good day IMHO. I think it is a very nice starter coin. I would gladly welcome it into my collection.
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New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
Thank you for the replies, yes, this was a first purchase, I have others now though. I got it on ebay about 2 or 3 years ago and believe I paid right around $50-60 for it if memory serves me correctly. The pics are terrible, cell phone, but it is definitely an eagles head, just bad photo... I tried, sorry. I think I did OK on it, based on what is written, and, to me anyhow, the fact that it is 200 years old and an early US coin, I love history, is what really matters to me. You know, who held it and that type of thing. I have others I will post some time, but want to get somewhat educated, as suggested above, sorry!, before I put more up. My others are quarters, dimes, Half Dimes from mid to late 1800's along with 20th century pieces. My aunt (who inherited them from my grandmother) left me a huge bag of coins, lots of pennies, a couple Peace dollars and Morgans, common dates, so that kind of got me started. Hoping to pass them on to my kids and have them take it up... history isn't boring and so much of our history revolves around our currency :-) |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Sorry for the additional post. JPBone made a comment, the strike is a bit flat for those years, good to know,but is there a book about coins that would get into that type of detail? I don't know if the RedBook gets into that or not, if so great. I can handle dry material, I am currently reading the history of salt to prove my point... I know ebay can be good, or bad for obvious reasons, but where do you guys buy from, besides here, coin fairs, dealers or what other outlet should I think about. Again, thank you guys again, I hope I am not pestering you too much, I like to get as much info as I can, I am very analytical and cannot believe I bought before I did research. Maybe someday I can contribute to this site. |
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Valued Member
United States
374 Posts |
You can take a much better photo even with a cell phone. Try holding the phone further away until it is in focus. Holding the lens too close won't work. Then crop the photo until there is no background. This will make the photo bigger. The folks here low a lot but better photos will get you better options. Photograde is good. The ANA make a guide book to grading that has all US coins. And yes, it's dry reading. :-). You can get it on Amazon. The Red Book is good, but in my experience the prices tend to be high. What was your project? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1048 Posts |
At first glance, the toning looks natural to me. Could be a very nice coin, worth rather more than you paid for it, but you need better photos to learn anything definite.
A reasonably good camera with macro focus is worthwhile investment.
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,098 |
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Posted 08/31/2013 9:28 pm
