wolf1bh Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 hello all, first time here, recently i got a book of old coins from my uncle. most are pretty common, random us and canadian halfs and dollars from the 1940s-1970s however the oldest one stood out a bit it is an 1869 us shield 5 cent piece with stars on the back. here you can kind of see it in the book but my camera cant focus so good (the coins were jammed in the book randomly, markings aren't correct). anyways i know nothing about coins except maybe i should encapsulate it? i have heard dont even touch them, should i put gloves on before touching? can i set it on my scanner by itself to take a better picture? anyways this coin in way nicer than any of the ones i have seen on ebay and was wondering if maybe i should even get it graded, if it would be worth it and how much that would cost to get graded. THANKS whoever can help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syzygy Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 It is, indeed, a shield nickel. It is almost impossible to judge the condition from your pics, but it does look like there is a lot of detail - maybe even mint luster - as do many of the other coins in the pic, like the Liberty and Bison nickels next to it. It would be a good idea to leave them be until you can figure out what you have. Please don't handle them or clean them or anything like that. To answer your question directly - if it looks in mint condition, you certainly might consider getting it graded - cost would be something like $25 or so, depending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stilson Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 A lot of the coins in the folder look good. I would suggest trying some more pictures front and back. There are some pretty steep price differences in MS on the 1869. Yep, use gloves if you have them. If not carefully pick up from the edge. For right now if it were me I take them out since they don't seem to be secured in the book, take pictures, then put in 2x2 flips. As to common years even they can go for a good amount if in the right condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf1bh Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 thanks for the advice. here is a better look at the 1869 shield. the ones i have seen look like go from anywhere from $5-50 but none i have seen are even clsoe to this condition. it is not perfect, as there apper to be minor scratch or two on the horizontol shield lines but you can see most of the vertical shield lines which don't show up in the scan so well. my question now is do you think it is worth grading? what numbers would you guess it could get/ is pcgs the best company to use? $25 isn't much to grade if you think it might put it over a hundred but if it is still common and less than that maybe i would just put it up for sale. i am going to keep many of the ones in the book to share with my nephew but might pull a few more out to scan and learn about here. thanks again for any words, barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 Can't say for sure since the dpi is kind of low, but looks EF at first glance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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