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 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,467 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
The wear pattern on the reverse is ... strange. Opinions please.   8 1/2 hours to go. I cannot post a link as my computer flags the link as infected. VERY strange. |
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Looks good to me. Could be a small dent causing the uneven wear.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
Central weakness of strike plagued all early dollars. For a while, the only press they had to coin them with was one meant for half dollars.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3486 Posts |
11 bidders, 18 total bids, $627.00 current bid. Seems a bit low.
The shield and the letters look to be at least VF. Thus my curiosity.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
B-5, not easy to counterfeit due to the crack through STATES and the missing serif of the U. Wear seems fairly common but the apparent "path" across the obverse makes me think it might be slightly bent.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
I had been looking for other examples of B-5 BB-157 with similar central strike weakness or wear patterns, but not much luck.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
Is is common for the shield to be so strong when the rest of the coin is so worn? (One day I hope to be able to purchase one of these so I need to beef up on my knowledge).  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
SsuperDdave, Now you have me wondering about that die crack. (My coin is on the left.)   The horizontal appears to me to be identical. My coin also has a small vertical die break. Were these two coins made on the same pair of die? I never intended to get into the vast world of early coin varieties. I only wanted a decent old dollar. But learn I must. |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Yours is B-5. The missing serif on the "U" is characteristic.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
CoinsKelly, I have no idea how common the weakness is. I obtained my example last December. The dealer tracked me down on the bourse floor at our local, small coin show and INSISTED that I hold it raw in my hand. I was not looking for an example, but when I held it I WANTED it! Since then I have been studying the examples offered on the Internet. ebay sends me an update everyday. I fell in love with the reverse. THAT is an Heraldic Eagle. We agreed that it was a solid VF-20 and the price was the Greysheet ask price. Since then I have had two dealers wanting to buy it from me. Now that is a tribute to my foresight [or shear dumb luck!] Let's hope that we both learn from this current discussion. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
That missing "U" serif is actually found on three different reverse dies: P (which was used on BB-168), I (BB-158, 159, 160, and 161), but matthewvincent's reverse looks to be reverse H, which was only used on B-5 BB-157. His vertical die crack through the first T in STATES makes it the latest die state, IV, which is the rarest state of B-5 BB-157.
Edited by philadelphian
09/09/2013 6:00 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2362 Posts |
Wow this is rocket science to me. I thought I knew a few things about early coins but....  Member ANA and EAC "You got to lose to know how to win". Dream On by Aerosmith |
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Moderator
United States
15414 Posts |
LOL cipster ... I've often felt the same way when reading the words of our true early USA coin experts. Whenever there is a thread that elicits replies from Philadelphian, SsuperDdave and vermontensium ... then we as a forum are in for a treat of knowledge sharing not to be repeated anywhere else in the numismatic world. My hat is off to those three folks ... great sharing of tremendous acquired knowledge.  My humble input towards the OP decision to bid or not ... be aware that Great Southern Coins has developed a poor reputation on the Bay ... primary gripe is that they 'doctor' their photographs to hide flaws and enhance eye appeal. Assuming there is a reasonable return privilege for issues not seen in the photos ... then it appears that our wise experts have opined on the coins authenticity. Good luck with it! David Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
Quote:
Whenever there is a thread that elicits replies from Philadelphian, SsuperDdave and vermontensium ... then we as a forum are in for a treat of knowledge sharing not to be repeated anywhere else in the numismatic world.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
And I, the OP, regard the opinions of the above mentioned three in high regard.
I would never have thought of a 'bend' but that makes a lot of sense.
nickelsearcher said it best " ... a treat ..."
cipster, take heart, as I am learning as you are.
I never intended to bid on it. I felt it an opportunity to learn, thanks to the good folk of the CCF.
Really, I only need one example and mine is dandy.
That it may be an interesting variety is just icing on the cake.
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Replies: 18 / Views: 2,467 |
Posted 09/09/2013 4:21 pm
