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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,101 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6389 Posts |
Hey, here are the original auction catalog photos of the dime I purchased in a Stacks auction a couple years ago. Would anyone care to comment and/or suggest a grade?   |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
What did Stack's say? They're usually pretty good.
I'd be tempted to think it was retooled, the hair detail is amazing. Something like an XF, except for the weak strike areas and dings.
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Valued Member
United States
131 Posts |
What a great coin. I guess I would say EF45-AU50 although it's high-end but for the two deep cuts in Liberty's neck and the less than perfect denticles (not sure how important those are in these early issues). I am not a big fan of toned coins but this one is tremendous. Enjoy it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2443 Posts |
Wow, I didn't know you owned that coin. I figured it was one of the stock images on here. I don't feel I'm even honored to grade it.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1267 Posts |
Man, I have a tough time grading these oldies. The presses in 1807 were rather archaic, to say the very least, and weak strikes vs wear is often difficult to differentiate.  That said, I believe this coin to be in ms condition with a fairly strong strike for the issue. The 2 cuts on the throat and shoulder limit the grade and keep it in the ms-60 to ms-61 range. An exceptional coin, and in my humble opinion one that I could look at and never really care what the grade on the holder says. Beautiful coin, Jaobler.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
Beautiful coin. I'd give it AU55-58.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1267 Posts |
OK, after looking at quite a few of these over at Heritage, I think I see a couple of signs of wear. The lower hair curl in front of the ear looks worn, and perhaps a little wear near the bust. The chin, nose and area above the eye are either slightly worn or just untoned......can't tell from the pic. The strike is very good for this date, the UNITED and AMERICA are clear and easy to read. If graded, I'll bet 1sikevo is right and it's in an au-58 holder. Still, I saw some in ms holders that don't deserve to be in the same room as this coin.  Edited by hadleydog
07/22/2008 7:27 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6389 Posts |
Here's the description from the Stacks catalog:
"Brilliant Uncirculated, with claims to Choice. Here is a most gloriously toned early Dime featuring lavender, rose, blue, lime, and gold tones hugging the powerfully impressed devices and intensely lustrous fields. The strike is quite strong for an early Dime, which usually comes weakly or unevenly struck, making this ever so gently hairlined specimen the ideal candidate for a type set."
Well, they had my interest at "most gloriously". I especially liked the sharp detail in Liberty's hair and the eagle's breast feathers. So many Draped Bust dimes are very soft in these areas.
I still don't see any hairlines on this coin, although it apparantly has some problems. Both NGC and PCGS have body-bagged it for cleaning. I suspect that the reverse is suspiciously white, presumably from an old dipping. There is dirt or dark tone in the shield lines, but very little matching color in the fields. The narrow color band around the reverse rim is I presume a natural retoning in process. The obverse tone is very beautiful and looks 100% natural to me, but maybe all that color came back after the coin was dipped white.
I would like to get it into a slab, just to protect the surfaces and hopefully preserve the obverse color. I wouldn't mind if the reverse continued to tone a bit more! I'll probably get around to sending it in to ANACS one of these days. Or, perhaps I should roll the dice again with PCGS. Maybe they'll change their mind on a second attempt.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1267 Posts |
I should have stuck with my original answer.  perhaps I should roll the dice again with PCGS. Maybe they'll change their mind on a second attempt.
I would give it one more go with pcgs, but I would wait a little while. Have you considered bringing it to a show for a walkthrough? Even if it got bagged, it would be worth having the reasoning explained in person. |
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Valued Member
United States
131 Posts |
I want a new guess after looking at a number of the dimes Heritage is offering in the upcoming Ed Price Collection of Early Dimes (and dreaming wistfully). Your coin could certainly outmatch some of those offered on eye appeal anyway. If you just want to get the coin in a slab, what about Dominion? They're certainly grading cleaned coins and listing as "Lightly Cleaned".
Edited by groganking
07/25/2008 06:57 am
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Member
United States
3242 Posts |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,101 |
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Posted 07/21/2008 6:58 pm
