Need some help grading, 1887 half crown [solved]

Hi need some help grading my 1887 half crown, it also looks to me like may be an error coin will highlight in the photos. As you can see in the photo there are two darker areas they are also indented, i think there was a error with the planchet as the letter are stamped over it, would you say this is an error or not thanks people

polished? if not then xf

I think it would be lower, Hard polished.  The back rim has some overlap that does not look right to me. But could have been done by the polish. The front looks almost like a very good cast. Are you sure it is silver? For me there are to many red flags. It will be very interesting to see what the UK guys think.
 edit did you try a magnet

Not polished, deff silver, correct weight and dimensions as well as carried out a test, it looks to me like the planchet had a flaw before it was struck, it does have some ware from circulation but only on higher details.

To me it looks polished. The lines all going the same way by Victoria on front. Tells me it was polished with a buffing wheel. But it still does not look right to me.

no doubt, that's definately badly polished

The oval indentations under VICTORIA and GRACIA are interesting. Are faces of the letters in the indent about the same height as the others?

I think the indents are post minting, because if the indents were there at striking then the letters in the indents would have been weaker than the letters that were not. All the lettering on this coin seem pretty consistent.

I understand whatyou mean by polishing, someone has use a scotch pad to remove some dirt, it is only on the one side, it has not been fully polished, as for the letters the I in victoria is slightly deformed at the bottom, the marks must have been done pre mint as otherwise the letters would be dented. The flaw is very very shallow and would hardly make any difference to the qualitly of the print,

Well the back show some too. Look at the i in Victoria .See The round things. And the bottom of the o. And around the o. Look like casting bubbles.  I would wait till some of the UK collectors look at it.

Cheers, i know its not a casting as the dimensions and weight would be wrong, forged coins are more compressed, this is now coming from an engineer, it is definitely  a real coin i have no doubt about that.

It could have been struck through grease. A rag would have left some imprint .  But the best thing to do is wait for the guys who know these coins the best. And have them look at it. Good luck . And welcome to numista.
                    yours daryl

Cheers daryl, your thiery about grease would make a lot of sense, thanks for yiur help.

Hey  on your first post hit edit and add UK 1/2 crown 1889 to the title. That way the guys who know those coins will see it.

Cheers for the tip

I absolutely don't know what the indents are, error or damage.
But regardless of that, the grade is certainly not XF. Look at the many scratches, pits and marks at the obverse. The reverse is much better but look at the worn on the faces of the lion heads.
This is how they should be:

https://static-numista.com/catalogue/photos/royaume-uni/g2544.jpg

Yer its a shame someone scratched it up, i would agree its not xf, still think i way have to have it inspected by an expert to find out about the indents, i collect error coin.

Its ex-jewellry, and brutally polished. I would definately display it reverse side up!

I cropped and rotated OP images.




This is my 1888 half crown which I would grade as GVF/AEF by following "Standard guide to grading British coins by rotographic"



It looks like your coin unfortunately has paid the price with the heavy buffing and polishing.

key elements for grading are the higher points, like George and the dragon on the bottom of the reverse for example, for EF grade you must be able to see the lance very clearly intact with next to no visible wear. The hairline on the obverse must also be visible as well as the lace above the hairline, even slight hair lines are enough for a EF grade. It looks to me like yours was possibly EF but the heavy polishing has reduced it to a F/VF due to the detail that has been removed.

Quote: ALLRED1950it was polished with a buffing wheel..

Yup.

For £2 i cant complain really.

Quote: ThesilversurferFor £2 i cant complain really.

Sounds like you got yourself a bargain then, after a few years it should start to tone again as long as it isn't stored in an airtight capsule.  

Yer, I was going to leave it to tone up again, everyone keeps saying this was polished. Unfortunately someone use a pad to remove some dirt on it, but it has not been buffed as everyone keeps saying, the reason for it wing so clean is, I do professional cleaning on silver jewellery and have removed the oxidisation on the coin which may give the impression it has been polished, if you saw the coin in your hand you would agree, only one side if the coin has the lines and this was not done by a buffing wheel, as an engineer I would know. It was done using a scotch pad. The lines are too rough for a buffing wheel. But again for £2 I couldn't leave it there, the thing I am more interested in are the indents on either side, they look like either grease was on the die, or the planchet was deformed before stamping.

I'd say the details on it are around VF....but the damage and the fact that it's been polished to within an inch of its life means it's value isn't going to be anything near the catalogue value for a standard VF

Cheers people.

Glad to help