1838 Banque De Peuple

Not my specialty for sure, but that sort of grade seems right. Just wanted to say how beautiful this is!

Another point of note is the beading. The beading or denticles are another area which readily is one of the first to shew wear. Most coins are picked up with the fingers and thumb by the rim (edge) and pressure is applied to lift and hold the coin. The beading on Wade's token appears pristine having no wear distortion.

Be advised however, these are merely my observations and as such are commonly ignored by many graders. I am of the opinion that oftentimes what one grader considers wear is merely the result of a poorly struck mint-state piece rather than genuine wear.

The skill of the mint worker, the quality of the minting equipment, the mint quality control, among a host of other factors must also be considered. Some tokens were struck by 'legitimate' mints, while other were struck in some blacksmiths shop. The 'Sheaf of Wheat' (Charlton's PE-4) comes to mind. Charlton notes "This token was issued in poor condition which explains why so few were issued and why his production equipment was eventually sold for scrap". (Charlton's ninth edition, page 10). The highest grade referenced by Charlton on the same page is EF-40. I suspect the EF-40 was 'as struck' as these were issued in 'poor' condition. 'If' this is 'as struck' and shews no evidence of wear, how can this, by definitation, not be graded MS. By definitation, less than MS must shew evidence of post-mint (manufacturing) wear. I contend that lack of detail is not always the result of wear.
But this is just my opinion...

doug

Wade,

I believe it was you who posted an MS NS-24 a couple years age. If so, my comments on that token are germane to this piece.

Querry to the powers-to-be, this site has a treasure trove of archival stored knowledge, but I am unaware of any search tool available to sort the data into categories. Anything would be helpful. Major catagories could be 1) 1958/1859 Vicky cents, 2) other large cents, 3), small cents, 4). five cent silver 6), nickels, ....loonies,...etal. Tokens could be Tiffins, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Habitants, St. Georges, etal.
Thus, interested parties could review all threads of a particular interest.

wishful thinking perhaps...

doug

Wade

Thanks for the post. Yes, this is the token I was referring to.
From first glance, this appears to be a well worn token of perhaps a F-15 grade. But...
This is in actuality a MS ensample. One has to look outside the box to deduce all the evidence.

The periphery of the token is sharp and pristine. The interior portion is virtually non existent. The lack of detail within the interior is lacking, not because of wear, but because it was never there in the first place. This is due to the lack of the detail of the die. The coin can not shew detail that was not initially on the die in the first place.
The culprit is the poor craftsmanship of the engraver.

Examine the railroad track on the rim, the crispness of the beading, the portholes of the ship, the vertical lines of the waves, the sharpness of the peripheral rigging, the cloven ensign and pendent, the crispness of the individual stones on the ground, and even the rust-marks to the right of the Harp. These areas shew no evidence of wear.

If the interior design elements were initially present and subsequently worn away, it would be an impossibility for the peripheral design details not to also shew comparable wear.

This ensample is in Mint State grade. Great token.

doug