First purchase - 1928 Half Crown - Grade?

[Lotad]

I picked this up from a local dealer who had a stall at an antiques barn. Having looked in the coin grading book (the one in the banner above) I think it would grade as EF. What do you all think?

I paid £13, which, according to the CCGB 2018 book (the one in the banner) is about right. This was my first purchase of a pre-decimal coin and I'm very happy with it.

Also, that black smudge by the L of half, can I do anything to remove that, or is it best to leave it be?

[Nick]

Looks better than EF to me.  You could try a drop of ethanol to see if the black mark will shift, don't rub it though - just dab it dry.

[Peckris 2]

I'd concur with Nick - the reflections suggest full lustre? The slightly flat top lion could be die wear.

[Lotad]

Thanks, so would the next grade be A.UNC? I think it has full lustre, but I can only compare, in person, to worn/circulated ones and this one looks miles better.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Lotad

[1949threepence]

On the basis of the pics, I'd go for GEF/aUNC.

The reverse looks slightly better than the obverse.

Nice coin. 

[Peckris 2]

10 hours ago, Lotad said:

Thanks, so would the next grade be A.UNC? I think it has full lustre, but I can only compare, in person, to worn/circulated ones and this one looks miles better.

Anyone who can confidently differentiate between GEF and AUnc should be wearing a red cape and dating Lois Lane.

[VickySilver]

Here are some key obverse areas you may already know:

Brow ridge

Mustache edge

Cheekbone - this is notorious for marks, even moreso on the crown coin

Both top and bottom of ear

 

On the reverse:

IMO, the lions are not the key.

Rather, the shield edge

Rim edge and border teeth (goes for obverse as well)

 

IMO, this would make it into the uncirculated with minimal bag marks. The obverse rim at 10-11 o'clock a bit rough and possible rim tap at 1 o'clock

[ozjohn]

 

Agreed. The price was pretty good as well. My 1929 half crown ( already shown ) on this forum cost more. Not that I regret as it was a nice coin. I can remember Peckris suggesting that I dip this coin. Still a work in progress. You would tink it would be easy to find a decent 1929 halfcrown but when it came down to it there was little choice at a reasonable price. For example when I was looking there was a slabbed 1929 halfcrown offered for more than $US 300

Edited August 26, 2018 by ozjohn
More info.

[VickySilver]

"Ah, Grasshopper, be patient."

I remember the show Kung Fu with David Carradine....

One (1929) will show up at a lot LESS than 300 USD I would imagine. Have you looked through the pages of Coin and Medal News? Coins like this John Welsh used to have for many years - not sure if he is still about. I wouldn't have used him for more expensive issues however.

[rpeddie]

my time to shine 😀

i cannot justify why but i have an unreasonable amount of  these halfcrowns(About 65 in UNC from 1928-1936) this one looks good and i agree with the others at AUNC, some edge nicks bringing it down a little bit.

Tough to picture these with their true colour, from what i see ifs reasonable purchase at £13

[Nick]

Here's my 1929 halfcrown, which IIRC cost about £30.

 

[Sleepy]

My 1928 Half Crown the reverse is almost AUNC but the obverse is nowhere near as nice, but it only cost £12.50 last year.

[Peckris 2]

Almost AUNC? 

[VickySilver]

LOL  Well, dipped in any case but I don't see wear as much as bag marks.

 

[Lotad]

Thank you for the replies everyone. 

How do you identify if one has been dipped, like Sleepy's?

[Sleepy]

The grade of my HC I shall bow down to the more knowledgeable within the forum, however the coin IMO is not dipped, despite what the best efforts of my really rubbish picture show. I would say it still has just about full luster judging from the cartwheel effect the coin displays when held under a glancing light.

[VickySilver]

The reason that I offer that opinion is that the surfaces are without the oxidation/toning of even a  minimal sort that one would expect to see on a coin 90 years old.Or at least very little. Also even though the coin is base 0.500 silver and it is just seeing it from the photo, there is just that little bit of loss of lustre that one sees on a freshly minted coin or that can be seen under the light [usually] yellow to brown toning. I have a very nice set that I put in a Capitol Plastics Holder (done custom) and I did used to lightly ip many of my coins including some in that holder. PM me if you'd like pictures sent in an email...

 

[ozjohn]

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 11:51 PM, VickySilver said:

 and in "Ah, Grasshopper, be patient."

I remember the show Kung Fu with David Carradine....

One (1929) will show up at a lot LESS than 300 USD I would imagine. Have you looked through the pages of Coin and Medal News? Coins like this John Welsh used to have for many years - not sure if he is still about. I wouldn't have used him for more expensive issues however.

It seems that 1935 & 1936 half crowns are far more plentiful than 1928 and 1929 issues and in better condition  even though the mintage figures are greater for the earlier issues. As for $US300 for a slabbed 1929 it's crazy. The coins issued in the middle years, with the exception of 1939 & 1934 are fairly plentiful as well again perhaps not quite so easy to obtain in top condition.

[Rob]

1 hour ago, ozjohn said:

It seems that 1935 & 1936 half crowns are far more plentiful than 1928 and 1929 issues and in better condition  even though the mintage figures are greater for the earlier issues. As for $US300 for a slabbed 1929 it's crazy. The coins issued in the middle years, with the exception of 1939 & 1934 are fairly plentiful as well again perhaps not quite so easy to obtain in top condition.

Is that more plentiful in Oz, or worldwide? I would have said they were slightly more common than the 35 coins, but possibly a reasonable number of 36s were set aside following the King's death? 

[ozjohn]

With the introduction of Australian coins in 1910 the halfcrown  ceased to be issued  as halfcrowns were not included in the new issues although halfcrowns circulated into the early 1930s but these for the most part would have been the earlier ones. So in answer to your question 1928 etc. halfcrowns were never plentiful in Australia. As for availability of the 1929 halfcrown it was based entirely on my attempt to upgrade the one I had as it seemed difficult at the time to find a top grade example.

[Peckris 2]

11 hours ago, ozjohn said:

With the introduction of Australian coins in 1910 the halfcrown  ceased to be issued  as halfcrowns were not included in the new issues although halfcrowns circulated into the early 1930s but these for the most part would have been the earlier ones. So in answer to your question 1928 etc. halfcrowns were never plentiful in Australia. As for availability of the 1929 halfcrown it was based entirely on my attempt to upgrade the one I had as it seemed difficult at the time to find a top grade example.

Certainly in Britain the 1936 (as usual, following the Abdication) is the most common. 1928 and 1929 are plentiful too, being first two years of essentially the first new reverse since 1902. 1935 I would say next, though not very different from 1931 and 1933 also. 1932 is the third hardest, though quite a bit easier than 1934, and 1930 the hardest. (I'm talking high grades here - none are rare in low grades not even 1930.)

[ozjohn]

Like I said I was surprised to find at the time difficulty in obtaining a top grade 1929 halfcrown given the mintage for this year was more than double that of the 1935/36

issues.