US Alabama Centennial Half Dollar 1921

The beautiful specimen of this US commemorative half dollar comes from respected eBay seller Vantage Rare Coins in Veradale, Washington, USA. If you check out Vantage's coin inventory, you will see that their coin buyer is very fussy about eye appeal. Great eye appeal adds dramatically to a coin's value. Two coins can have the same amount of wear and be drastically different in eye appeal. In the end, great eye appeals wins, at least in my opinion. See below.

Catalog values of these old commemorative half dollars run like this:

worn: $80 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $100
well preserved: $120
almost uncirculated: $150
fully uncirculated: $355 (numismatic grade MS63)

These values come from the Grey Sheet, a conservative price guide for US coins.

There is an interesting twist with this coin, a twist sure to get collector juices flowing. Some of these coins were minted with a small 2X2 in the field behind Kilby's neck. The X is actually St. Andrew's cross, which is part of Alabama's state emblem, and the 22 commemorates Alabama as the 22nd state to enter the Union. If your coin has the 2X2, add $50 to the catalog values above. Now that's pretty neat!

Returning momentarily to eye appeal, the two coins below have the same amount of wear. They have been graded to be fully uncirculated by nationally recognized grading companies. But the two coins do not look the same. To be sure, eye appeal is a subjective thing. What looks nice to one person may not look nice to another person. But if I were choosing between these two coins, I know which one I would add to my collection. How about you?

CoinQuest thanks Vantage Rare Coins for use of their coin image. It is a beauty!
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