Yep, the scratch on the obverse is pretty nasty. I think that she may have Ef-45 details, but that scratch will take this 1898 down quite a bit. In fact, do you think that it is still collectible with such a blemish? Overall how would you grade it?
Yes it's collectible until you find a better example. BU 1898's are easy to come by at reasonable prices ($40 for an MS63 example). I definitely wouldn't waste any money getting this into a details slab ... my latest "details" scratch is microscopic compared to that one.
Luckily it's not a key date, because IMO that scratch pretty much made this coin un-gradeable. Without the scratch I would say it would grade at VF-30.
aladinslamp- yeah I know what you mean. I really hope that the relative from whom I inherited this coin did not actually seek this coin out from a dealer, rather I hope that he inherited it or got it from the bank back in the 1950s or early 60s.
Here is one of mine a 1878-CC with a similar problem. There is a large gouge over the eye that has dropped an otherwise EF-45 coin to damaged and ungradeable. This is currently on e-bay and I will be lucky if I get $50 for it.
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