Need A Primer On 1926 Sesquicentennial Commemoratives.

@Brandmeister: A few things to keep in mind...

1.The 1926 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar was struck in low relief - this can make it difficult to tell the difference between a Mint State example and a Lightly Circulated example. Examine a potential purchase closely - check for breaks in the coin's luster. Breaks in luster almost always indicate an area of wear (though such areas can sometimes be the result of a weak/incomplete strike that produced an incomplete metal flow).

2. Beware of polished examples. I've seen a good number of polished examples over the years. If every portion of a coin looks "shiny" in the same intensity, it raises the possibility of it being a polished example.

3. I advise looking at many examples of the coin before making a purchase. It's important to develop a sense of the characteristics of a "nice" example vs. an average one so that you can feel good about your purchase.

4. I would advise purchasing a graded example from a respected service (e.g. PCGS, NGC, ANACS) to remove some of the potential for "mistakes." Mistakes in graded holders are out there, but their number is significantly reduced vs. "raw" coins.

5. There is generally a big jump in market price between a coin graded MS-64 and one graded MS-65. Very nice MS-64 examples are out there, and can be difficult to tell from MS-65 examples. So, shop and compare!


Those are a few things to consider - hope they help. If you have a specific question, please post.

Thanks, commems. That answered one of my questions straight off—why many of the slabbed MS coins have an almost XF appearance. I suppose that is a combination of the low relief and a weak strike?

I will take your advice and start looking over coins on ebay for May. Probably I will have some follow-up questions as I slowly do the visual research. One immediate question I have is whether you consider the prices on PCGS, Red Book, Numismedia to be accurate for this coin. If even low MS examples are a couple hundred bucks, then maybe the right place to start is a nice XF or AU coin that would reasonably straight grade (not for grading, per se, but just so I'm not picking up a cleaned, polished, or other Details coin).

I'll add to the discussion that these are readily available in the market in circulated condition.

Most often raw, but a lightly circulated XF - AU example can be had at nearly all larger coin shows for a fraction of the price of a certified MS64 coin.

Of course, all of commems advise still applies. A key is to examine enough coins to make an informed purchase decision.