First thoughts when I initially saw the post: "I'm old and a wee bit suspicious. I really want to believe but is there some sort of catch here?" Then, I know you know what you're doing, so BZ!
There aren't that many dies out there for these: do you know from which this was struck? Again, good god that's a pretty coin!
Thanks for your kind comments, @BiederCoins - not sure how many obverse dies were used, but apparently there are 4 known reverse dies. If anyone has further variety or die pair information, please post it.
I received the coin and created a video in youtube shorts to show the surfaces a little better. Kindly let me know if you have further thoughts.
The music is a little aggressive - Vivaldi's Winter - Allegro non Molto. Thought it was appropriate as this was minted in 1916 in the midst of the trench warfare devastating the European Continent. If you don't care for the music, please press mute while viewing the video and expand the YT shorts window if you wish to view it full screen.
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IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
I did see the hazing you mention on the obverse in the video. I was surprised because I did not see it looking at that side of the coin, rotating it under the light.
Both sides have full luster throughout the fields and raised devices.
The reverse does have light toning in several spots in the right reverse field, but I can still see full luster under the light yellowish toning spots. To the right of D in UNITED in the reverse, there is a small dark carbon spot that is also visible on the original post's reverse picture. The video also shows more dark toning in that area of the reverse, but I can't see it rotating it under the light. Even though the video captures the luster well when the focus is clear, it seems to pick up toning and dark areas under certain lighting that I cannot see looking at it directly. Not sure why that is. Looking at the coin directly, it looks like a 96% white coin with good luster, 3% with light yellow toning spots in the reverse and 1% with a dark carbon spot.
Hope that is helpful.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
looks like PCGS has only graded 20 coins at this grade. I'm going to bet it took quite a long time to find one available and at a price you were wiling to pay for it.
You are very perceptive @panzaldi. I had been looking for a nice gem 16-D with full bands for at least 8 years. During this time, many coins have shot up in price, including the 16-D but not really the MS66FB. This is an odd grade because it is high grade but not the highest in the condition census. It is actually 3 notches below the top of the condition census. At the top sits an MS67+FB and then there are the MS67FBs and MS66+FBs. Coins in the AU58FB to MS63FB range have appreciated more from what I can tell, particularly on a percentage basis. For higher grade, expensive coins, eye appeal within any particular grade is an overriding factor.
The coin at the top of the condition census MS67FB CAC sold for $207K in 2010 and again $204K in 2020. This coin actually dropped in price over a 10 year holding period. It has an unattractive large abrasion at the neck of Liberty: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/l...-fb-pcgs-cac
In addition, eye appeal is an important consideration. Many of the coins in the gem to superb gem range have distracting to dark unattractive toning. Often, these sell for 2/3s to less than half the price of an eye appealing coin. Very few people are willing to pay top dollar for an unattractive, expensive key date coin. The combination of eye appeal and finding a coin that was in line with reasonable pricing made this purchase challenging.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
your coin beats this one hands down. personally I couldnt see shelling out $36k for that coin.
imo, this is what new collectors can learn is that don't settle for inferior coins, stay in the hunt for the best you can afford. patience pays off. I would rather have a nice AU58 coin rather than an ugly MS62 or a F15 with great eye appeal rather than an XF cleaned or damaged one.
Do you have a long term goal with your collection down the road?
taking it to auction some day? passing it on to someone? opening a museum to the public? being buried with it?
all I can say is we all live vicariously through your purchases
Thank you for your kind comment. My goal is to have a collection that reflects my priorities and wants. Turns out that my priorities and wants are shaped by everyone that I have encountered and that includes everyone here at CCF to some degree or another. I believe that the coin collections we construct are reflections of ourselves, given what we have around us to work with. It has been an honor and a pleasure to go through the coin collecting journey with the best bunch of folks that I can think of. Thank you!
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
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Posted 07/04/2026 11:20 am
we all live vicariously through your purchases
