Your coin easily has AU details and could be uncirculated. The spots people are seeing on the surface are likely PVC or something else that has melted onto the coin by touching it in the high points. It's definitely not EF by details. Whether the skin can be removed to reveal a nice coin - that's something I would have to see in person to see if it's worth it and if it could be done. It's likely not worth the time, since the highest possible value of this coin would be around $3 as an MS63.
Your question regarding graded coins selling for a buck can easily be answered:
Some people send in coins by the hundreds to be graded, for many reasons. When the coins come back from the grader, there are likely a few coins in the group that were thrown in as teasers to get higher grades on the other coins in the group. These teaser coins were not sent in for lofty valuable grades, they were tossed in to give the grader a comparison to what they are looking for on other coins. The teasers go out the door for a buck, and the lofty grade coins more than pay for the submission.
An example:
If I had a roll of 1963D Lincoln cents that were quite nice, and I really seriously thought I hd a shot at MS67RD on two of them, I would send in a dozen of the nicest ones including these two, fully knowing most of the group will come back MS65/66. Financially it pays off BIG if even one of my two come back MS67RD, but if both do, it's a big payoff. Here's why:
MS65RD is worth about $2 in a holder. MS66RD is worth about $50 in a holder. MS67RD can easily fetch $1,500 in a holder. If I sent in ten coins at $40 each (including shipping and insurance), that would be $400 plus my cost for the coins, likely a buck or less. When I get back two 67s, three 66s, and five 65s, I end up with $3,160 worth of coins for my $400 buy-in. If only one of them came back in a 67 holder, I still win by at least $1000.
So I take the 66s, run them on
ebay for $19.99 each and sell through them, and put my 67s in a heritage auction where they bring $900-$1000 each. I'm left with five 65 holders to crack or sell as is. Since cracking them is a pain in the butt, I'd rather sell them at a buck as paperweights. See?
Posted 11/21/2010 09:29 am
EF easy.
