Description: 1854 O Seated Liberty Silver Half Dollar Why Doesn't the Coin Have a PCGS or NCG Grade Certification? The answer is actually quite simple. PCGS & NSG were not in existence when we purchased the coin in January of 1986. Although you can see the original coin grade in pics 2,4 & 5, the reason it does not have a PCGS or NGS certification is PCGS and NGC were not even founded/in existence as grading companies during this era. PCGS wasn't even in business until February of 1986 and NGC didn't come into existence until 1987 which are dates "prior " to when we purchased the coin (1.13.86.) Therefore, unhappily, per Ebay's coin listing policy, we're not allowed to list the grade of the coin in the listing title, item specifics or description because it doesn't have a PCGS, NCG, etc. grading certification. This was purchased and graded by Bowers & Merena Galleries in 1986, founded by David Bowers and Ray Merena in 1982. We purchased this on January 13, 1986 at the company's physical location in Wolfsboro, NH. We're confident of Bowers & Merena's original grading, methodology and assessment. We may eventually have it graded by PCGS or NGC if we conclude buyers are not confident in what we explain above and below. Prior to PCGS, NGC, etc. numismatists, such as David Bowers used the Sheldon Scale of grading that is still the gold standard for both PCGS & NGC who still follow the Sheldon Scale this day. We don't make claim that Mr. Bowers personally graded the coin but can logically assume he had supervision, approval over the majority of coins the Bowers & Merena Gallery had for public sale when we purchased this in 1986. Who is Bowers & Merena, David Bowers and Ray Merena? Bowers & Merena History: One of the premier firms in American numismatics, Bowers & Merena (and its predecessor, Bowers & Ruddy) helped bring major collections of United States coins to the auction floor, including the collections of Louis E. Eliasberg Sr., Walter H. Childs and Aubrey Bebee, Harry Bass and portions of the holdings of Virgil Brand and the Norweb family.David Bowers and Ray Merena founded Bowers & Merena in 1982. It was sold to Collector's Universe in 2000, then to Spectrum Numismatics International in 2004. In 2011, Bowers & Merena merged with Stack's and is today (2024) known as Stacks Bowers. David Bowers: For over 75 years, Mr. Bowers has been considered one of the top numismatists in the entire world and his contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day. Since 2021, Bowers has been named one of Coin World's Top 10 Most Influential People in Numismatics four consecutive years.Ray Merena: Mr. Merena, who passed away in 2013, was also a very highly credentialed numismatist and was an expert in the operational aspects of coin auction houses, coin acquisition, research and coin transactions. He held numerous positions with several companies including director of research, division manager of foreign coins, division manager of rare coins, Pricing analyst for Coin World, among others. Important Shipping & Handling Information:Understand, this will be shipped by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The only way the USPS will insure bullion is if it's shipped using their service called, "Registered Mail." Unfortunately, registered mail is a very slow service. The reason being is Registered Mail packages are kept in locked safes and postal cages when not in transit. The service also has a verifiable chain of custody that tracks all USPS employees who handle a Registered Mail package. Lastly, Registered Mail packages are all processed manually which also slows down the transit time. That all being said, it can often take anywhere from 7 to 21 days for your package to arrive. You will be provided a tracking number via your eBay message center. There is no shipping option to select for Registered Mail within the eBay shipping policy drop down menu so the estimated delivery times are defaulted and display estimated delivery times shorter than what we explain above, so please be aware of this. With regards to handling, unfortunately we just can't can't generate, print and produce a Registered Mail label for your package. When shipping Registered Mail, the shipper has to physically fill out forms at a USPS location and a postal clerk has to stamp, label, etc. the package in a specific way to ensure it's properly delivery. Therefore we list our handling time as five(5) days but will certainly strive to get the coin on it's way to you as quickly as possible and likely will be less than five(5) days but we can't 100% guarantee this as the USPS is closed on weekends, however some locations are open on Saturday until noon. With regards to general questions outside of what we mention above, certainly feel free to contact us. We do kindly ask you abstain from contacting us regarding delivery date, transit status, transit path, etc., due to the reasons we outline in the first paragraph above and we have absolutely no control over any of these factors once the package leaves our hands. You can do this yourself by entering your tracking number into the USPS website here: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input and you can see the latest update of where your package is in transit.
Price: 449 USD
Location: Franklin, Tennessee
End Time: 2024-11-15T21:50:50.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Circulated/Uncirculated: Unknown
Denomination: 50C
Coin: Seated Liberty
Composition: 90% Silver - 10% Copper
Year: 1854
Strike Type: Business
Mint Location: New Orleans
Grade: See Entire Details in the Description Section
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Certification: See Entire Details in the Description Section