1853 Braided Hair Large Cent - Uncirculated Or Not?

Lack of sharper pics doesn't help either, but looks lightly circulated to me. No heavy hits, but light wear at the high points, and fields look riddled with small light tick marks from brief circulation. AU55 for me.

For a raw coin this looks pretty good. Minimal surface disruption and great color. I'd certainly consider it at the right price.

Grading it is another matter. The reverse looks textbook MS61 to me. But as you point out, what the grader would have to decide is whether the flatness around the ear on the obverse is wear or a strike deficiency. (The flattish hair locks are pretty definitely a strike issue).

Once can usually tell pretty easily under a microscope -- or with pics that are much higher resolution and crisper than these.

But there's insufficient visual detail here to draw a conclusion. Safest best is to assume AU53/55 and pay accordingly.

The price seems about right for AU, but be cautious -- the inventory pictures of all the seller's coins look just a bit too good, yet just blurry enough to obscure.

And don't be lulled into complacency just because the seller feedback is good. There are any number of ways volume sellers on ebay have of neutralizing unhappy feedback, which expires after a period of time anyway.

For what it is worth, I bought a Flying Eagle cent from this seller four or five years years ago. The photos weren't quite as good as they are now, but in this case conveniently obscured some mottle/staining on the obverse that was in truth quite pronounced and distracting. You could just barely make out in the pic that something was there. The pic was plausible.

While I would not have bought the coin had the photo been accurate, the price wasn't too terribly high. No great loss. I decided to give the seller the benefit of the doubt and left positive but truthful feedback: "Over-graded, but price was ok."

No reply, but he banned me from further purchases. IN retrospect, I probably should have left neutral feedback.

Might squeeze out an au58, I'm with panzaldi, look at the hair on the obverse, it has seen a tad bit of circulation.

Bit late to the party on this coin, but I too am no higher than AU55 - not circulated but enough rub or cabinet friction to make this no MS to me.

My money would say EF45 range when buying and... Selling it would be no more than AU 53+ price. $80 to $120 range. I like that it's not obviously cleaned or otherwise impaired.

Thanks for all the responses. I decided to pass on the coin.

Good decision to pass.