1857-C Gold Dollar: You Vs. PCGS

I agree with Fuzzy...can't comment on actual grade but I can only dream of having a "c" coin in my collection one day!

I am going AU-58 for possibly just a hint of wear, but wouldn't surprise me to see this in an MS-grade. Fantastic coin, your father had great taste in his coins!

Seems worn. XF45 or low AU?

Very nice coin, I have a couple dollars from 1854 myself, I always hated the weak strike in the middle of the reverse of this series. My guess is AU-55

AU50

Very nice ;-)

Joe2007 had this right on: PCGS AU Details (Damaged)

Honestly, I'm not sure what the damage is supposed to be...I'm a real beginner...but NGC and PCGS were both in agreement on this one. (It's somewhat of a long story, but the coin was submitted to NGC and then resubmitted raw to PCGS...with the same result.)

This coin has some accompanying paperwork, which I thought might be of interest and might be informative regarding the damage. It is a correspondence in 1988 between David Akers and someone named Sam at Sidney W. Smith & Sons I think. The initial typed letter is cut off at the end:

Dear David,
Enclosed please find the 1857-C Type III Gold Dollar about which we conversed last week. The coin was purchased from Abe Kosoff, probably in the late 1950's or early '60's; a photocopy of his envelope is enclosed.
Despite the planchet's typical porosity and crudeness, the lustre of this coin is truly impressive for a Charlotte mint coin. It does display unfortunate results of mishandling in the form of hairlining, probably caused by wiping with a cloth or tissue. Given the observation that the "nick" behind the head is not bright, but instead of the same lustre as the surrounding field, and that this mark does not evidence "moved" or "pushed" metal to one side or the other, I believe that this "nick" and subsequent dishing of the planchet was caused by foreign material or an object caught between the die and planchet at the time of striking. Furthermore, I believe that the edge mark at 3:30 of the reverse was caused in the attempt to remove the coin from die after striking, the bend having caused it to be jammed in the die. This mark is also of matching color to the rest of the coin, confirming to me that it was contemporary to the minting process. If I'm wrong on this assertion, at the minimum the color indicates that the edge nick is an old, rather than a more recent "injury".
Your confirmation or rejection of my assertions will be sincerely appreciated, as will be any other comments by you in light of your acknowledged expertise and experience. Please.... [typed section in my scan ends there]

And handwritten response from Akers:

Dear Sam,
I've examined the enclosed 1857-C Gold Dollar and agree with most of your comments. The mark behind the head certainly appears to be as made and undoubtedly caused the bend in the planchet. Whether or not the coin was ever "pinned" in the die is conjecture obviously and probably did not actually occur in this case (the bend and problems are too minor). The reverse edge nick is something that clearly has occurred since striking but how it happened is anybody's guess.
The coin overall grades AU-55 (for an 1857-C) but I don't feel it is of sufficient value to be included in Auction '89 which is the only sale I have scheduled.
I hope this information is of help to you.
Sincerely,
David Akers