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Posted 05/06/2016 4:47 pm
PCGS graded this 1796 dime as an AU-50. When I sent it in for grading I thought that it would get an EF-45. The piece has a fair amount of subdued luster, but it is a late die state with a die crack that is most visible under the "L" in "LIBERTY" that runs across the obverse. That resulted in weakness in the hair detail which suggested the EF grade. PCGS graded it more on luster and surfaces and gave it the AU-50.
This piece came from the Worthy Coin bid wall in Boston. The shop was run by Don Romano on behalf of his father, Corrado, who was a legend in Boston numismatics. Dealers who were his peers viewed his inventory with awe. The old gentleman's pride and joy was a 1792 silver center cent, which was the centerpiece of his collection when it was sold by Stacks' in the late 1980s.
The elder Romano first sold this coin to a customer for $125 back in the day. As a bit of a joke the son opened it on the bid wall at $1,250. It sold for a bit more than that, but in the 1980s a coin like this did not sell for a small fortune. It was an early coin that was not an MS-65, and therefore it was not an "investment grade" piece.
I dare say that I have done better with this piece on paper than some of the "investment grade coins" of that day have done since that time. The old commemoratives in MS-65 were said to be "great investments." We all know what those piecea have done in recent years.
This piece came from the Worthy Coin bid wall in Boston. The shop was run by Don Romano on behalf of his father, Corrado, who was a legend in Boston numismatics. Dealers who were his peers viewed his inventory with awe. The old gentleman's pride and joy was a 1792 silver center cent, which was the centerpiece of his collection when it was sold by Stacks' in the late 1980s.
The elder Romano first sold this coin to a customer for $125 back in the day. As a bit of a joke the son opened it on the bid wall at $1,250. It sold for a bit more than that, but in the 1980s a coin like this did not sell for a small fortune. It was an early coin that was not an MS-65, and therefore it was not an "investment grade" piece.
I dare say that I have done better with this piece on paper than some of the "investment grade coins" of that day have done since that time. The old commemoratives in MS-65 were said to be "great investments." We all know what those piecea have done in recent years.
