George V 1918

[MWM]

Today i came accross this George V 1918 coin. Your comments please.

[Md. Shariful Islam]

Good looking coin.

[MWM]

Thanks Islamda!

[PeaceBD]

That is a nice looking coin.
I would like to point out to you that pictures taken in this particular fashion with light blazing on the fields with devices of the coins highlighted can be very tricky to judge a coin based on the pictures. These coins generally don't have reflective fields unless they are proof-like restrikes. So when I see a seller's picture taken in this fashion makes me very suspicious of what the reflective fields are hiding.

BD

[MWM]

Actually These pictures are taken by me. I am not good at photography. Do you mean to say i should take photos without flash.

[PeaceBD]

MWM, from your first comment I thought you were contemplating buying this coin and were looking for opinion.
For taking pictures of your coins I would recommend not using a direct camera flash as it always overexposes the picture with the flash unevenly reflecting off the surface of the coin. I generally use two small table lamps with 20W florescent bulbs placed at an angle of 45° from the coins surface to illuminate the coin properly. The camera sensor should be parallel to the surface of the coin when taking the picture. Also when use use flash and have the lens hood on it causes areas of shadow as with your second picture.

BD

[MWM]

No i have not bought this coin. BTW thanks for your suggestion. I will try taking pictures as you suggested next time.

[Harry]

Since you are about to make a purchase, I'll be more critical to help you negotiate.

In general when you find uncirculated KGV Rupees you will find that the reverse is far superior (could be up to two notches higher) than the obverse. Example the rev would be Choice BU and Obv just Unc. When making a purchase you need to put your "what's wrong with this coin" hat on and don't get memorized, like I do, with the reverse. Look at the obv.  The obv has a lot of surface marks, this is common for KGV Rupees as  they suffer from far more bag marks and nicks than Edwards and Victoria Rupees.   Grade the coin on the weaker side, in this case the obv.  From what I can see, I would grade this coin as Unc .  An Unc KGV Rupee common date sells for $28-30 in the US.  So if the seller is selling the coin as a BU flip it around and buy it as a Unc (with a reduced price offcourse)!

The Uncirculated grading scale that I am using is what many US dealers use:
AU, Unc, Choice Unc, BU, Choice BU, GEM BU. 

Where Unc is the lowest uncirculated grade  and GEM BU (an almost perfect coin)  higher.  Some dealers use Choice GEM BU but these are seldom seen in BI coins.

Hope this helps!

[Harry]

Sorry as a following to BD's post:

For taking pictures of your coins I would recommend not using a direct camera flash as it always overexposes the picture with the flash unevenly reflecting off the surface of the coin. I generally use two small table lamps with 20W florescent bulbs placed at an angle of 45° from the coins surface to illuminate the coin properly. The camera sensor should be parallel to the surface of the coin when taking the picture. Also when use use flash and have the lens hood on it causes areas of shadow as with your second picture.

BD- thanks for detailing this out. Its very helpful!

[PeaceBD]

Since you are about to make a purchase, I'll be more critical to help you negotiate.

In general when you find uncirculated KGV Rupees you will find that the reverse is far superior (could be up to two notches higher) than the obverse. Example the rev would be Choice BU and Obv just Unc. When making a purchase you need to put your "what's wrong with this coin" hat on and don't get memorized, like I do, with the reverse. Look at the obv.  The obv has a lot of surface marks, this is common for KGV Rupees as  they suffer from far more bag marks and nicks than Edwards and Victoria Rupees.   Grade the coin on the weaker side, in this case the obv.  From what I can see, I would grade this coin as Unc .  An Unc KGV Rupee common date sells for $28-30 in the US.  So if the seller is selling the coin as a BU flip it around and buy it as a Unc (with a reduced price offcourse)!

The Uncirculated grading scale that I am using is what many US dealers use:
AU, Unc, Choice Unc, BU, Choice BU, GEM BU. 

Where Unc is the lowest uncirculated grade  and GEM BU (an almost perfect coin)  higher.  Some dealers use Choice GEM BU but these are seldom seen in BI coins.

Hope this helps!

Harry, those are some very good tips and should help anyone trying to buy BI coins. In my experience though Unc, Choice Unc, BU, Choice BU, GEM BU as indicated by US dealers are coins generally graded MS-61 though MS-65 on Sheldon scale. A MS-65 coin is considered as GEM generally in US numismatics. The grading used by dealers for uncirculated coins when buying the coins unseen can be very deceptive. I recently bought a couple of BI coins sight unseen described as Choice brilliant uncirculated. Both the coins had various bag-marks and nicks on the rim but had full blazing luster. I returned these coins as per my judgment they where mere MS61-62  coins.
I am glad the tip on taking pictures would help. PM if you would like more details.

[villa66]

...The obv has a lot of surface marks, this is common for KGV Rupees as  they suffer from far more bag marks and nicks than Edwards and Victoria Rupees....

Any idea why this is so? Fun reading the back and forth between you guys.

v.

[Harry]

Any idea why this is so? Fun reading the back and forth between you guys.

Good question!  I have been told about this by several dealers of Indian coins.  If true, I would guess it's the same reason why the rev of KGV and Victoria coins are generally better than the obv – due to large exposure of the surface area on the obv.  The rev of the Rupee coin plain surface area is protracted by the intricate design while in the obv there is a larger "unprotected" surface area which is prone to getting scratched very easily. So I would guess KGV coins have a larger area on the obv that is open and more susceptible to nicks and bag marks.   

This would mean that KGV Rupees have fewer number of GEMs (MS65 and higher) than Victoria and Edward Rupees (which is what dealers say that they see), but according to the population reports that I have studied by NGC this is not the case.  Keep in mind that the over all number of coins submitted to NGC for grading is a very tiny fraction of whats out there so reading anything into this might not be correct.

Another dealer told me that it was fashionable to take back Victoria and Edward Rupee coins back to Britain as souvenirs however in the later years this trend stopped and so fewer were taken back.  How much of this is true, I don't know, but its interesting.

[villa66]

...Another dealer told me that it was fashionable to take back Victoria and Edward Rupee coins back to Britain as souvenirs however in the later years this trend stopped and so fewer were taken back.  How much of this is true, I don't know, but its interesting.

It is interesting. Thanks.

v.