Barber half advice

[skeeterd]

I have been buying junk silver halves to build up my silver hoard and the other day I got five Barbers. One of them is a 1913 in g4 condition. According to the pcgs web site its worth about $70 (I paid $12.25). But after looking real close, I think I can see where an "s" mint mark was that someone removed. I don't have a magnifying glass, so I'm not real sure. Even an "s" is supposed to be worth $25. I plan to take it to my LCS and get their opinion if it has been altered. My question is "is it worth less now that it is altered and should I even bother selling it or keep it with the rest of my junk silver?"

 

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[l.cutler]

If it has been altered it is definitely worth less, any collector value has been taken away.

 

[skeeterd]

Thanks. I'm gonna take it to have it looked at anyway, but it will probably end up back with the other junk coins. Is it common to find these with the mint mark removed?

 

[l.cutler]

If a Philadelphia mint coin is worth more than it's mintmarked counterpart, mintmarks are often removed to pass off as the unmintmarked coin. Sometimes mintmarks are added to Philadelphia coins for the same reason. The mintmark could also just be weak from a grease filled die, definitely have it checked out.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Keep in mind that if you are stacking junk silver, you may want to go with the 90% Kennedy halves, or silver coin with little wear...if silver skyrockets and you are selling, chances are dealers will go by coin weight, which is not uncommon. Heavily circulated silver coins can lose quite a bit of weight.

 

[skeeterd]

Thanks, ffdirt. That thought never occured to me.

 

[dejapooh]

Then again, one advantage of going with older coins is that if Silver does not go up, or even if it goes down, there is more likely to be Numismatic Value above Silver Value. You will never get Numismatic Value on 1964 Kennedy Halfs until you start to get into MS66... I know the Price lists say I am wrong, but just try selling those MS65 Kennedy's for $25... Without slabbing, it is not worth it, The cost of slabbing is too high to make it worth while.