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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,641 |
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
These are very hard to find, as most were sent to China and melted. Supposedly not too hard to find chopmarked, but I rarely see them for sale. This coin was supposedly found in a box of stuff in an Attic. It has very dark tone, but under that the surfaces appear to be prooflike, an effect that the images don't show. On the reverse are a couple of squiggles, one to the left of the eagle's head, and one near 6 o'clock. They are only visible at certain angles, and after close study I think they are strike-throughs of a thread or lint. If I had a binocular scope I could tell for sure. Anyway, after that windy preamble, here she is:   |
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
Hey, I saw this very receontly.........does TDColl = Ksparrow? Nice coin!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Very Nice, thanks for the pics.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8904 Posts |
She's a beauty!! GREAT detail!  Congrats! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1523 Posts |
Don't know much about those as they are usually out of my price range but looks great.I can see the strikethroughs.That hit on the rim sucks though.
Edited by Halfwitty
05/16/2010 2:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Oh my yes, very nice one. I have a few, and all of mine are dark like this also.
The "strike throughs" that you mention are those curvy lines under the PLU in the banner, and between GRAINS. and 900 ?
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
After re-reading your directions to the "strike throughs", I see that what I was looking at is most likely what you were referring to.
I can say without any reservation that those are not strike throughs. Here is how:
Strike throughs are created when a material gets between the hardened steel die and the much softer planchet which leaves an impression of the material in the planchet during strike. A strike through then, will be incuse on the coin.
Now consider this; the toning or aged discoloration of the coin (in this case) is dark. Would not the incuse areas of a dark coin be just as dark or darker than the field? If they were present at time of strike they would.
Only the highest points of the devices, or a crack or break in the field (due to wear) 'and' damage done 'after' toning will be of a lighter hue on a dark coin.
Those squiggles are post mint scratches (fairly recent too).
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Valued Member
 United States
161 Posts |
yes, I believe they are struck through a fiber of some sort, they are very faint and only brought out in the images by my side lighting. However, the rims are bright which suggests that it may have been stored in a 2x2, which raises the question of these being marks from a staple if it was carelessly removed. My experience with staple marks is that they are usually straight or jagged, and often deep. these marks are sort of wispy/curved and appear to be uniform depth. You really can't see them without magnification and side light. I wish I had a binocular microscope! This coin has the sort of dark, circulated-cameo look that I admire, and I feel fortunate to come across one that someone hadn't tried to "improve" upon.
Johnny- you got me! I like different handles for different boards. No mistaking the coin, though. I do enjoy this forum as well as Coin Talk.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1523 Posts |
True. Unless they are raised.
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Strike throughs are not raised. (Ever).
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
I was writing my reply as zeewool was posting his, and zee what you say makes sense. I'll take a closer look later, it occurs to me that if there are some circulation marks on the surfaces, they would pass through a strike-through, but a recent scratch would be on top of the older marks. However I'm starting to believe that this coin was taken out of a 2x2 without the staples being pulled first, a big no-no.
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Not sure what caused the scratches TD, might have been staples, maybe something else; all I know for sure is that those are scratches of recent times and that is one very, very nicely detailed coin (especially the reverse).
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
thanks for the comments. I found a cheap magnifier that goes up to 30x, and yes, they are very fine, surface scratches. With the coin in hand, the only one that flashes under the light is the one to the left of the eagle's head, ie, they don't detract or distract. I'm quite pleased with it.
The fellow I bought it from is an antique dealer,and may not have been well versed in the handling of coins. Or maybe it was who HE bought it from. I'm just happy nobody tried to clean it!
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
Does the coin really look blue like that? What an awesome color!
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
It's overall a bit darker, a sort of blue-black from the patina. But yeah, that's pretty much how she looks. Nice "circam."
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,641 |
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Posted 05/16/2010 08:34 am
