Expert: Ronald Fern - 6/22/2010

Question
Sir
I have two questions for you
1ST I have a "Standing Liberty Dollar" 1947 that on the "Eagle" side the "Clad"(I think thats the word)is completely missing. On the "Liberty Side" Ms. Liberty, the sun, and the date are also missing te "Clad". Where missing the coin is a goldish color.

2ND I have a "Liberty Mint" troy ounce 999+ of silver. On the "Liberty" side at the bottom it says "Freedom 19__" The last two years are missing. Any thoughts?

Also I might be interested in selling these so any thoughts on that would be appreciated also.

I Thank You in Advance.

Answer
Hi Chuck:

Thanks for the question(s).

I'll try and answer as best I can, but if you want to ask a  follow-up question and attach a photo of the 1947 coin, I'll revise my answer as required.

Please look at your 1947 coin. There is no US Dollar coin struck for that year. No silver Dollars were struck from 1936 through 1970. Your coin may be a Walking Liberty Half Dollar, but that coin is struck in .900 Fine silver, not clad. It's likely toned rather than missing the "clad", as you say. Do you have another coin like the 1947? The halves of that design were struck from 1917 to 1947. Franklin halves were first struck in 1948.

Compare another coin to thickness, diameter and weight. Are they the same? It could be a replica coin struck in copper rather than silver.

The "Liberty Mint" silver round may be a filled or greased die strike, where a foreign substance was on the die surface as your round was being struck. This would be considered a minor error. It is repetitive and would happen over and over until found or the press stopped and the "gunk" wiped off the die surface. There could be thousands of this similar round. It may be worth up to $5 to $10 over the normal price of a "generic" silver round to an interested collector. Many of these are struck with designs very similar to our U.S. coinage. They are a popular way to hold silver bullion, and these "generic" pieces usually sell for about 50 cents to a dollar over the spot price of silver. They are struck by private mints, so they do not qualify as coins. Many of the "generic" designs are produced in the millions.

Scarce to rare pieces may bring up to double the melt value, but most trade right around it, plus or minus a few dollars. At the current rate of silver, around $19.00, your round is likely worth about $25 to $30 (with the error) to an interested collector.

You may also want to check out these links on silver bars and rounds:
http://www.rivercitycoins.com/silverrounds/celebrity/celebrityrounds.html
http://bullion.nwtmint.com/silver.php

Your coin or round may be be altered or damaged. Sometimes it is hard to tell when you first look at them. These would have no added numismatic value.

Here are two links for you to see what type of non-error coins exist.
See link: http://coinauctionshelp.com/page15.html
See link: http://conecaonline.org/content/OhNo.htm

You may want to check ebay listings under US coins in the error category to see if your error is listed and what they are going for. You may also want to check out these links on error coin values:
http://www.coinsite.com/html/USErrorPrices.asp
http://www.minterrornews.com/priceguide.html

If you live close to a local shop, they should offer an opinion as to the value and if it is authentic at no charge. If you should decide to sell your items to a dealer, remember they will offer about 50% to 60% of the retail value. Always try and get at least two opinions and try and deal with PNG dealers if possible. Here's a link to find one in your area: http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

Please remember to go to the experts site to rate this answer. Check the nomination box on the rating page below any comments you may have.

Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.