1936 DDO walking half?

[Theresa]

You think this may be 1936 DDO-002, 2-O-II-C? How would grade also any input about this coin would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Theresa

[Theresa]

Really?

Nobody would like to help me out here?

[Merlin8971]

I'll Comment

I think your Walker looks very similar to the photos of a 1936 Walking Liberty half dollar on page 251 of Cherrypickers Vol 2 Fourth Edition, especially the date and IN GOD WE TRUST (what we can see of it). The doubled die obverse number is FS-50-1936-102.

Quote from said Cherrypickers page: "Doubling is evident on the date, IN GOD WE TRUST, the lower folds of the skirt, the shoes, and the ground.

The condition of the coin is excellent by the photos. I am not a grader (and I do not play one on TV) so I would not say it looks to be 65 or so.

[Theresa]

Thank you!

I think your Walker looks very similar to the photos of a 1936 Walking Liberty half dollar on page 251 of Cherrypickers Vol 2 Fourth Edition, especially the date and IN GOD WE TRUST (what we can see of it). The doubled die obverse number is FS-50-1936-102.

Quote from said Cherrypickers page: "Doubling is evident on the date, IN GOD WE TRUST, the lower folds of the skirt, the shoes, and the ground.

The condition of the coin is excellent by the photos. I am not a grader (and I do not play one on TV) so I would not say it looks to be 65 or so.

Thank you! I picked a Cherry Picker, my first book ever & didn't realize till I got home it was only nickels & pennies In the back though they do list like other denominations, yes I see that listed there my rays are a little worn, so that part is hard to tell. I found the Coneca # on another site, Thanks, I'm so often wrong especially with Doubling, I should be known as MDD Queen

[Merlin8971]

Cherrypickers Books

I hate when this site logs me out when I am writing a reply and I have to re-do the post.

[Merlin8971]

Yes There are two volumes of the Cherrypickers guide. Volumes 1 & 2. I will also caution you to make sure you get the latest edition of each volume. The latest edition of each is Edition 5. I will also mention that Edition 5 of Volume 1 also does not have a complete section on nickels. It does not show later jefferson nickels than 1969 at this point. Volume 2 does have dimes, quarters, halves, and dollar coins in it.

At this point I have more than 20 books on coins. The Red Book series, Guide Book of.... on coin types (the Red Book indian head and lincoln pennies for example covers those coins, Guide Book of Franklin & Kennedy Half dollars is another one) has 16 or so books on various coin types. Curiously there is no Red Book Guide Book of Dimes. Dunno why but that is the way it is.

I also recommend the book Strike It Rich With Pocket Change that has a number of errors that other books might not show and does have approximate values for various errors along with photos. I also recommend the "Coin Collectors Survival Guide," which speaks of how to handle coin dealers, coin shows, cherrypicking, ediquet, and other actions or plans for collecting your particular choices of coins. I find this book excellent for handling the other aspects of coin collecting one might not think of when starting out. The one point that the Survival Guide stated that I found to be most important is that "if a coin becomes available for sale and you do not win the auction, just be patient, another one of the same coin will probably come around sooner or later." Of course, if the coin is fairly rare, it might take a while to find another one. Patience is the key.

So, books are essential, and knowledge is the key to smart collecting. The toughest part of coin collecting is actually discovering accurate values on coins you might find because values do fluxuate (sometimes wildly). I rely on PCGS and NGC graded error coins for values but even PCGS and NGC may not place a value on the error. Die clashes on coins is one area where value is hard to assess and PCGS and NGC may not give a value to these clashes. Although PCGS does provide its members a "Weekly Market Report" of values of coins and the top ten gainers and top ten loosers for the week, plus other information on popular coins and errors. Another way to assess value is watching E-Bay error coins and how much they sell for. Although it is not completely accurate since some valueable coins sell for less because of momentary lack of interest or exposure (this is when you can get a bargain) and other times bidding wars between bidders happen and that causes the coin to be sold at a premium. PCGS and NGC actually monitor these sales and other public auctions to assess the "going average rate" of coins and errors. Remember, dealers will pay the least they can for a coin, and sell it at a maximum price they can get.

I like to refer to the story of a amateur coin collector who bought a "Big Gulp" at a 7-11 in Philadelphia circa 1999. In his change he found a 1999 Delaware quarter obverse with a Sacagawea reverse called a mule. Very Rare. He sold the coin for approximately $175 thousand dollars and the dealer who bought the coin promptly turned around and sold the coin for $250 thousand. Another example is the Wisconsin state quarter with an errant extra leaf, both the "high leaf" and "low leaf" varieties. When these were first discovered the value was approximately $1,500. But later when the numbers of this error were more closely approximated the value went down to about $500 depending on condition.

As for MDD (mechanical doubled dies) I tend to like them especially if they are dramatic like the 1999-P Jefferson nickel. Apparently there are huge numbers of these MDD's and most are quite dramatic with doubling of the date, mintmark (telltale sign of MDD), In God We Trust and Liberty. I have more than 75 of these examples which is a huge number for one person to find (with me not saving all that I found, probably more than one hundred). I figure there must be more than a million or more of the 1999-P Jefferson nickels with MDD's.

Presently I have more than 6,800 error coins that I have found over four years of searching many rolls and roll of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Many are minor errors, but I am interested in the many varieties of errors. If the error is valuable, good, but if it is not but is interesting to me I save the minor ones too. One finds that depending on the denomination of the coin there are some errors that are prevelant, other errors are not. Die cracks are numerous for quarters, but far fewer die clashes on quarters. Many die clashes on dimes and more MDD's on nickels but pennies are all over the place with errors, such as cracks, clashes, die chips, cuds ectera.

Enjoy and Happy hunting.