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 Replies: 13 / Views: 385 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1111 Posts |
Hello, folks! I bought this today off ebay and thought it was pretty nice.1870 Shield nickel. It was listed as "very fine." Any thoughts to how accurate this might be? It does have some pretty good details IMO. It looks like it might have been lightly cleaned at some point possibly, but not sure. At least on the back.  Reverse  |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5393 Posts |
More like a VG coin .
Has full rims a decent original grey
colour. Reverse is decent .
Slightly harder to find date ,
compared to 1867 through 1869.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1760 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73798 Posts |
It's VG in my opinion. Definitely not VF.
Errers and Varietys.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
573 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
15395 Posts |
I judge this as VG08 at best, definitely not in the VF range. Reading your posts I am impressed with your enthusiasm for USA nickels, especially the earlier series.  I would like to help you gain additional knowledge through the saying 'Buy the book before the coins' I'll send you at my expense the Red Book Guide to Shield and Liberty Head Nickels. It's 271 pages of knowledge, and will give you a wealth of knowledge including grading standards for both series and discusses the specifics of each year's coin.  Use the forum email function to send me your mailing address, and I'll send it off to you gratis. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10491 Posts |
Quote:
I judge this as VG08 at best, definitely not in the VF range. Completely agree! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1111 Posts |
Quote:Reading your posts I am impressed with your enthusiasm for USA nickels, especially the earlier series. I would like to help you gain additional knowledge through the saying 'Buy the book before the coins' I'll send you at my expense the Red Book Guide to Shield and Liberty Head Nickels. It's 271 pages of knowledge, and will give you a wealth of knowledge including grading standards for both series and discusses the specifics of each year's coin. Use the forum email function to send me your mailing address, and I'll send it off to you gratis Great minds think alike I guess  We are both nickel lovers evidently. I love nickels in general, but have garnered an interest in particular obviously with Shield and Liberty nickels, since I never really see anyone do sets or collections of them much. Awesome! Thank you so much. I will definitely send you an email. That would definitely be helpful. All this said, I'm still happy so far with the purchase of this coin. A lot of the other 1870's Shield nickels that I have seen have had pretty bad corrosion. I'm happy with the amount of detail it has. Shield nickels in particular are REALLY hard to find for decent prices in good shape. Edited by Humanist1287
02/10/2026 8:26 pm
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Moderator
United States
15395 Posts |
@Humanist - PM received. I mailed a package to you this morning. Post Office says it should get to you by next Tuesday. Enjoy.  Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1111 Posts |
Thank you so much! That will definitely help me out  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
18645 Posts |
the coin has no glaring issues just normal circulation wear. if it was cleaned it was a long time past and would grade straight. reverse is VG8 obv G6. I think the rev is strong enough to push the coin over that line compare here: https://www.pcgs.com/Photograde/#/ShieldNic/Grades |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1111 Posts |
Thanks, panzaldi. I think it's pretty decent for a lot of the other 1870 Shield nickels I've found. It's a tougher date to find, especially in nicer condition. Many of the ones I've seen have really bad corrosion. Edited by Humanist1287
02/12/2026 1:14 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3628 Posts |
I just noticed this thread. (Being in the middle of remodeling isn't helping my online presence right now!) I'm on the G-06/VG-08 bubble with this coin. Just a thought for you on building a collection. Some of the ebay dealers also have websites, and their coin prices likely are lower on their actual websites because of lower overhead costs. You can figure out their general location from ebay and a quick search will usually find their store websites. Be sure to take a little time to verify that they are the same dealer, because many dealers have similar coin shop names. (Seeing a bunch the exact same coins and photos in their inventory is pretty much a gimme.) Some of those dealers are regular "ham-and-egger" dealers, who have broad general inventories across a range of collectible dates and grades. When you find a dealer that way, also search for the coin shop name and the dealer's name here on CCF. They may be CCF members and have direct sales here. They may also not be on CCF but be known (importantly, for good or bad) by CCF members, and you can pick up helpful info from this site. In particular, there are a few bad apples out there who sell doctored coins or manipulate photos, and their names will be very easy to find on here. Some of us also know a lot of the good dealers personally and can give good insight about them and how the grade and price their coins. Just an idea. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36643 Posts |
Obverse G-6, reverse VG-8. G-6 net.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 385 |
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Posted 02/10/2026 2:57 pm
