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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,138 |
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
Hi all: I recently came into some coins that belonged to my great grandfather and was hoping someone might be able to help me assign a grade to a few of the coins. The first one is a 1806 Draped Bust. It has been stored in a small manila envelope since 1950 (possibly taken out to be viewed on a few occasions). If the picture is not sufficient for judging its grade, please let me know. The bottom of the front is not quite as worn as it appears. I seem to have done a better job of capturing the true appearance of the back. Anyhoo, my questions are: - What is its grade? - Why does it have a brown/copper look when so many others seem to appear gray/silver in color? - Has it ever been cleaned or is this the natural appearance after 200 years of exposure to the elements? Thanks very much for your help!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
812 Posts |
First: Wow!
Second: Welcome to the Forum!
Third: I think this grades EF-40, maybe higher (retail value well over $1000)
Fourth: The color is very unusual. I've not seen a silver coin this color.
Fifth: The unusual color might be a sign of cleaning (re-toning after dipping maybe? I'm not seeing signs of abrasive cleaning). Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in.
Sixth: Wow! (beautiful half dollar!)
Edited by Bilbo
03/24/2008 12:46 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1267 Posts |
I agree, WOW. I'll bet the envelope the coin was in had some sulphuric content. A light brown/yellow business type of envelope maybe? The grade looks Extra Fine to me (45). The appearance (tone) looks natural considering the envelope. Please don't try to clean it!!
Take Care
Ben
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
1st- get an accurate weight to the nearest 0.1 grams 2nd- measure the diameter in millimeters 3rd-  It certainly looks "coppery" but that could be a byproduct of the manila envelope storage. Those envelopes are known to have sulfer content that can tone coins gold to brown. Hopefully that is toning since the Draped Busts of that design were all silver and not copper. If is is genuine, it is a high dollar coin regardless of the denomination. I do not have much practice grading this denomination but I see an easy XF/AU (extremely fine to almost uncirculated). Edit: it is either a quarter or half dollar since those were the only two minted in 1806 quarter- 27.5mm, 6.74ghalf dollar- 32.5mm, 13.5g Bilbo, you are right- they did somehow squeeze 25c onto the quarter so it can only be a half dollar. PCGS.com has 6 listed varieties for that date and I am sure there are more but those six are probably the most popular. The reference needed for this would be the Overton book which I do not yet own  Edited by biokemist6
03/24/2008 1:59 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
812 Posts |
Biokemist, I edited my earlier post when I figured out that 1806 quarters do have a "25 C" on the reverse, and there were no 1806 dimes. It has to be a half dollar. Sometimes my fingres tpye fastr thn my brian thinks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
I'd say thats at least an EF40 & possibly higher, great coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Interesting color! I thought it was copper at first. I can almost see a silvery reflection through some figures. I don't have any sources on this series, but I note what appears to be a die break through the E in LIBERTY. That and the date should help attribute the die pair and rarity, which after all is a big determinant of value for the early coins. Unless I'm mistaken--it's that way for the Draped Bust large cents. This coin might grade better than at first sight, because some of the "wear" might just be strike issues, seen in the difference in feather detail on the reverse and corresponding areas on the obverse. If may easily be XF45+ (my guess)  Edited by KurtS
03/24/2008 1:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
Beautiful coin. I have an 1806 myself but not in that condition. Mine is dark gray, almost black. I would give in an EF40.
I have seen that gold/copper toning in a few Flowing Hairs and Draped Busts before. Must be the envelope.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
The coin, if authentic, and if uncleaned, is worth somewhere between $1000 and $2,000 I would guess. It would have to grade Very Fine (VF) to Extremely Fine (EF) to warrant those prices. Please, please, please do not clean it! On the edge you should find the words Fifty Cents or Half a Dollar. If there is nothing on the edge, then the coin may not be real.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
I'll tentatively call it O-121 and VF35-EF40; they're known for wonky strikes so EF45 isn't out of the question. It's been two years since an EF45 hit Heritage; that coin went for $1500. Me likey.  |
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New Member
 United States
4 Posts |
Thanks everyone for the quick and thorough responses. This is my kind of forum. :)
Bonedigger -- Yes, it is in a small, light yellow envelope (same color as a business envelope). Don't worry, I won't clean the coin. Heck, I'm scared to touch it now!
hunter20ga -- I won't clean it and will probably send it in for an official grading (never done that before, but I imagine it can't be too complicated). On the edge it does say "HALF A DOLLAR" (sweet!).
SuperDave -- Can you explain how you determined that it is O-121? Using coinfacts.com, I narrowed it down to a range of O-110 to 127 (not including 111) based on the pointed 6 and stem, but I wasn't sure how to proceed from there. Is it based on the crack through the E in LIBERTY?
Thanks again all.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
quote:
SuperDave -- Can you explain how you determined that it is O-121?
First of all, I have the Overton book. Here was my specific process: This is the first 1806 I've attributed, so I read the introductory paragraphs which isolated the knob-6's from the straight-6's. I picked up on the die crack thru the E, so I flipped thru the whole series of varieties looking for it. No luck. So, since I was already at the end of the list, I started from there and went over each carefully. Important features for attributing Halfs are where the points of some stars are relative to the denticles, and the point of the A's on the reverse, the same way. Both of those features are identified for every single Overton variety. For the 1806, the location of the olive leaves relative to RICA is also relevant. Starting backwards from O-127, I hit my match at O-121. Everything I could see of your coin, and was written in the Overton description, was right. So I then went to Heritage's records and looked up what they've sold of this variety, to get some real-life pics of one. That confirmed the attribution, unless there's something lower than O-121 which matches even better because I stopped there. That's why I said "tentatively." |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2443 Posts |
Wow! I'm afraid to grade it, but I'll marry that coin(is it illegal for a man to marry a coin?)!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
914 Posts |
> Heck, I'm scared to touch it now!
I hope so! Don't touch it with your bare fingers. Wear cotton gloves and only handle it on the sides.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,138 |
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Posted 03/24/2008 11:17 am
