I have a 1869 half penny and a 1883 half penny, need some help grading, i did notice the dates in the 1869 seem to be wider than usual. Anu ideas people.
One's a nice VG, it might make a poor F but for the weak rev. the other (on the left) is at the bottom of the VG scale. You can grade the coin initially by looking at the portrait before confirming your grade with the reverse which has much better markers of wear. The easiest are Britannia's hand where it grasps the trident (fingers for the VF, yea!) and the Union Jack on her shield which should be fully visible for a VF grade.
Queen Victoria copper always has a healthy value in VF and above, even F in the case of scarce or type 1 (pre 1860) coins.
Catalogs don't usually offer a price below VF or F but normally you can safely assume that a coin worth $20 in VF will be worth $10 in F and $5 in VG etc. To be honest though, whatever that conventional wisdom might be, hardly anyone wants to buy lower grade coins like these. They have pretty high mintage figures and are readily available in better grades.
I've had some sub Fine British coppers in my swap list for such a long time I'd completely forgot about them until someone wanted to buy them recently. I couldn't in good conscience sell them for the listed value, so I either asked for a fraction of the price or gave them away to a friend who I know doesn't care much about grades.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
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Quote: pnightingaleBoth are a long way South of F.
One's a nice VG, it might make a poor F but for the weak rev. the other (on the left) is at the bottom of the VG scale. You can grade the coin initially by looking at the portrait before confirming your grade with the reverse which has much better markers of wear. The easiest are Britannia's hand where it grasps the trident (fingers for the VF, yea!) and the Union Jack on her shield which should be fully visible for a VF grade.
Queen Victoria copper always has a healthy value in VF and above, even F in the case of scarce or type 1 (pre 1860) coins.
Catalogs don't usually offer a price below VF or F but normally you can safely assume that a coin worth $20 in VF will be worth $10 in F and $5 in VG etc. To be honest though, whatever that conventional wisdom might be, hardly anyone wants to buy lower grade coins like these. They have pretty high mintage figures and are readily available in better grades.
I've had some sub Fine British coppers in my swap list for such a long time I'd completely forgot about them until someone wanted to buy them recently. I couldn't in good conscience sell them for the listed value, so I either asked for a fraction of the price or gave them away to a friend who I know doesn't care much about grades.
