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Learning To Grade Walking Liberty Half Dollar

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swollibman's Avatar
New Zealand
48 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  05:48 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add swollibman to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Learning-To-Grade-Walking-Liberty-Half-Dollar

Learning-To-Grade-Walking-Liberty-Half-Dollar

I am new at this - this is my first attempt. I'm going to say EF40
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Adam_E's Avatar
United States
4846 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  06:13 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Adam_E to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
A really good guide is PCGS photograde: http://www.pcgs.com/Photograde/#/Walker/Grades

I think this has enough detail and luster left to be AU-55-58, there's very few bag marks on it.
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mdpmedia's Avatar
United States
3546 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  06:36 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mdpmedia to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
50
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SHAFTA9a's Avatar
Canada
10743 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  06:49 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add SHAFTA9a to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Nice Walker...
AU-50
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sel_69l's Avatar
Australia
21788 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  07:18 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add sel_69l to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The places to look for wear on Walkers is on the diameter.
On the obverse: along the line of Liberty's body and left leg,
on the reverse: along the slanting line of the eagle's body from the head to the bottom of the left leg.

These two diameters show up quite strongly on worn examples, because they are ridges of high points in the design.
Sometimes I have considered if these ridges are a design weakness in an otherwise superb example of neoclassic coin art.

Particularly look at the detail on Liberty's head, the eyebrow of the eagle, and the feather detail on the left leg of the eagle.
Edited by sel_69l
01/05/2015 07:24 am
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dave700x's Avatar
United States
10625 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  07:47 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add dave700x to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I'm leaning towards AU53. I'm thinking most of the missing detail is strike issues.
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sel_69l's Avatar
Australia
21788 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  08:08 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add sel_69l to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

A lot more coins were produced per year for the war years.
It is reasonable to assume that wartime issues were more lightly struck to extend die life. The result is that it is common for feather detail to show up less sharply on MS grade coins.
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Celticsoul's Avatar
United States
1566 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  08:41 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Celticsoul to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
AU-50 weak strike.
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kanga's Avatar
United States
5825 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  10:08 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add kanga to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Definitely a weak strike; characteristic of the 1941-S Walkers.
That of course makes it difficult to grade since you have to separate a weak strike from wear.
Certainly AU; whether it can make a low MS is problematic.
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edweather's Avatar
United States
7375 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  11:44 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add edweather to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Does anyone else see hairlines from a possible cleaning? Maybe I'm just seeing things. Otherwise nice coin. AU50
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BuckeyeCoinGuy's Avatar
United States
711 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  3:09 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add BuckeyeCoinGuy to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Not sure if these are hairlines or whatnot, but I see something going across the sun's ray closest to Lady Liberty.

As for grading, I would go AU details.
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swollibman's Avatar
New Zealand
48 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  3:30 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add swollibman to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Well the results are better than expected! But I still think it is important to err on the side of caution when grading a coin. I would be very embarrassed if I 'over graded' a coin and then one day sold it on to an dissastisfied customer
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panzaldi's Avatar
United States
18668 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  6:37 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add panzaldi to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
AU50
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D0ubl3Eagle's Avatar
United States
5854 Posts
 Posted 01/05/2015  10:43 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add D0ubl3Eagle to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
It appears to be around AU-53 or 55 to me. A lot of the S mint walkers are typically weak. The amount of mint luster remaining is much more typical for an AU than a EF.
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mdpmedia's Avatar
United States
3546 Posts
 Posted 01/06/2015  03:40 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mdpmedia to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
...anyone else see hairlines...



The optimal way to identify whizzing, for example, is to hold the coin at a 120 degree angle to the lens (with 90 degrees being when the coin is flat on a surface).

But even when the coin is held at this angle it probably will be necessary to position the light source at various angles to capture the presence of any fine hairlines...
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CoinCollector2012's Avatar
United States
8137 Posts
 Posted 01/06/2015  10:53 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add CoinCollector2012 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
AU-53
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