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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,775 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5240 Posts |
   1. Is this indeed a worn die? 2. Despite the weak crown there appears to be very little if any wear. A few nicks. I am calling it AU but is it even higher? 3. What would the book value of this be as compared to one of the same technical grade but a fresh die?
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
This coin has suffered from a small amount of wear.
The die was still a long way from the need to be replaced - have a look at the hair detail behind the ear.
High points of the leaves on the reverse also exhibit signs of wear
Have a closer look at the high points on the band of the crown, eyebrow, mustache and beard below the ear. The metal at these locations has worn smooth. If there had been no wear, these locations would have shown the same surface characteristics as between the lettering - that does not appear to be the case with this coin. Same applies with field roughness on the reverse.
Also, the die was smeared by grease - demonstrated by surface roughness in front and behind the head, and just inside the rim.
If this coin had been perfectly struck without grease problems, it would have graded at
VF (British grading system).
Edited by sel_69l
03/09/2020 07:06 am
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5588 Posts |
At least VF30+, if not XF or higher. Grading coins on a computer is never accurate.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I'll say VF-35 (Sheldon), details (dipped), the wear is evident - this is not a striking issue, imo.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
857 Posts |
Imo the die as said above, was likely still going strong judging by the amount of detail that there is.
Given the amount of luster I hypothesise that this is more an issue with how hard a metal nickel is, that this was a weak strike from potentially fresh dies without enough pressure used.
That said I'm at AU-55
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5240 Posts |
They say that these nickel 5 cents are hard to grade, which is indeed the case here.
So at any rate there is consensus that this is not a die wear issue, but a weak strike, and that there is some wear but opinions vary between 35 and 55 (sheldon). This is quite interesting, and I will be interested to see if there are other opinions.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
10743 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
605 Posts |
VF30/35. Almost XF but I cannot see it higher as I do see the same wear on band/beard/shoulder area. Still a nice coin!
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Moderator
 Canada
10458 Posts |
Lustre is everything when grading this series. There was no grease involved here, the radial flow lines and orange peel texture speak of a deteriorating die (remember, the fields are the highest points on the die). This coin also has a weak strike - the pearls on the crown are not there.
Without the coin in hand - I might venture this one being AU grade, with eye-appeal being the main factor in its value.
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5240 Posts |
Thanks, everyone. I learned something about this series.
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Valued Member
United States
170 Posts |
Indeed. A super interesting find for sure, and I agree with the various VF-30 estimates.
A great find!
Jasper
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,775 |
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Posted 03/08/2020 8:14 pm
