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 Replies: 15 / Views: 945 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1083 Posts |
I just bought this coin from Harlan Beck: http://www.harlanjberk.com/unitedst...=35336&num=0It seems underpriced for the strong XF it appears to be. I asked them about the dark areas in a few of the lettering and they told me that they didn't believe it was cleaned and showed nos signs of it under magnification. Hoping to upgrade my 7070 FE in VF-30. I don't have the coin in hand, but welcome opinions. Beck has a no questions asked return policy. |
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Valued Member
United States
328 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1083 Posts |
Darn it, I think you are correct. To be an XF it needs all the tail feathers and they aren't there. I just unbought it. If anyone wnats a nice VF-30 it's at Harlan J Beck's. Nice people to deal with and I need to slow down and really scrutinize my purchases.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
I would actually say that's conservatively graded by Harlan Beck. It's very clean, the color appears good, and that "wear" on the tail is a typical strike due to the high relief of the '57 reverse; you'll also notice the right wreath is weakly struck too. Going by the ANA and Photograde books, I would put this as XF-45 to AU-50. Ah...since you passed on this one, I'll take a look!  Edited by KurtS
02/21/2008 4:43 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1083 Posts |
Interesting. The tail feathers that are missing are generally where you first see wear on these and the lettering immediately adjacent looks strongly struck as well. Looks like wear to me, but the breast (another common wear area) and the wing tips are strong? Also the more I look, this coin seems to have some weird coloration on the obverse. Note the clearly delineated dark areas to the left and right of the eagle. Aren't we having fun? Grading sure gets subjective when you start scrutinizing all areas of an old coin. Overall I think this one has good eye appeal, but something is bothering me about it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Right--the left wing tip detail simply wouldn't be there on a VF. There would also be significant wear on the thigh, and I see little if any. The weird coloration may be on the planchet...I have that on a '57 slabbed by NGC as AU-55 with similar discoloration. Comparing this coin to my AU-55, it actually has less wear on the left wing tip than mine, and similar wear on the breast and thigh. I'm certain the tail is due to that common strike issue...this is easily an XF-45.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6381 Posts |
I agree this easily makes XF. Fully-defined tail feathers on a FE cent are what separates an average strike from an excellent strike. The dark material in the obverse legend does suggest a possible old cleaning, but a very gentle one since there are no hairlines and the color looks pretty good. If this coin is available for a VF-30 price I'd call it a very fair deal.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
Well, I can't find this one on the Berk website, so someone must have bought it. Look's like another case of a day late &/or a dollar short.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1934 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1934 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
VF35-EF40 ANACS called this an EF40, from a proof strike. The 1857 shows less wear than that.  Edited by 1sikevo
02/22/2008 12:46 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
jhs, ok I checked it out...but that's a very general guide, and doesn't exactly touch on the features or wear patterns of each series...does it? I based my grade on the ANA and Photograde books, plus my knowledge of FE cents...for what that's worth.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1083 Posts |
If Kurt or someone else bought it I would really like to hear a follow uo post. I hope it is a high grade. No hard feelings on my part. With my tax bill and financial situation I didn't need to buy anything right now anyway, but I am curious about how it looks in hand.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Okie- Immediately after I suspected you may want that coin after all, I didn't go for it. However, I could not find that coin either, so perhaps someone else snatched it up? 1sikevo--nice coin! Yep, I thought that '57 was better than an EF-40 because of the detail on the left wingtip, and very little (if any) wear on the thigh. Edited by KurtS
02/22/2008 1:14 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
812 Posts |
I'd grade this easily EF-40, quite possibly EF-45.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1934 Posts |
Kurt, you said: "jhs, ok I checked it out...but that's a very general guide, and doesn't exactly touch on the features or wear patterns of each series...does it?"
True, that; however, 1sekivo's posted coin and ANACs grade is pretty close to my assessment based on acoin's guide.
While being aware of all the caveats collectors want to (and do) apply to grading different series, there has always been (and probably always will be) a fundamental standard from which I start when grading.
Kinda like, "In order to think outside the box, you gotta have a box to begin with."
Jim
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Replies: 15 / Views: 945 |
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Posted 02/21/2008 4:17 pm
