I will wager that someone saw the coin in-hand and thought it would upgrade. The luster looks quite nice in the photo, PCGS loves luster in 66+ grades, and we all know that photos make judging luster hard.
SUPER Wrong approach, even though they don't have Best offers, send them a message, I have had many a BIN price changed for a reasonable offer. I recently got a message from a refused offer that reconsidered.. It never hurts to ask, it's their loss if they don't want to deal. Sure, some might be offended, if they are offended IMO, they weren't worth buying from anyhow. For example, I recently had several say, "let me see how I do at FUN."
The new plus grades are creating a new market for the best coins within a grade label. the cert number appears to be old enough to be before that program started The HA FMV are not listing the plus values.
I agree with you, however, my use of the term "66+" was not to signify a plus grade, but rather to signify a 66 or greater grade.
Would you say that the gash on the N of CENT (as well as the marks on the face) would allow a 66+ grade but preclude a 67?
I definitely agree with that. The last 2 buys I made to sell were 1935- MS-67's slabbed by NGC. Both were $62 BIN or below. I only scan them as new listings, but there are some real bargains out there.
Impossible to say from photos. It would be guesswork at best. That said, and if you FORCED me to guess, I would not agree with you -- I don't see any hits that would preclude a 67 grade in the photos. If that gash on the N were on the obverse, I might. And remember, we can't really tell from the photos how the luster is. I suspect if PCGS gave it a 66, and someone paid that kind of money for it, it is remarkable.
I appreciate it. I would've thought otherwise and I learned something. I've never sent any (raw) Lincolns in but have been thinking about it.
I do not have anywhere near the experience that others have posted about luster. However I like think creating a very in depth study set that the most noticeable between 66 & 67 is the luster and quality of strike (little weakness) tics and dings not so much between the two. I know some of you hate when I do this, so humor me for a second. Several subjects are covered in this exercise. and frankly while I can see things about a coin in hand, with out this type of imaging I can't see other things in hand. what I have done is taken a PCGS 32D MS66RD shot highlighting luster and the HA 32-D in question here. if for no other reason than to hijack this thread! lol..
I conclude that is a good candidate to go to 66plus if not 67 however the HA pics do nothing to capture luster. HA's photos are very good but the type of lighting from the bottom of the coin indicates to me a production mode leaving lots of room for improvement. I'm done now, thanks for listening!
The pcgs sample you provide has two distinct things over the HA sample: 1 - strike 2 - lack of hits ... I would be surprised if the HA sample upgraded based on luster alone give the distractions on the cheek (a primary focal point), the notable ding on the reverse, and that the strike is not compatable with the sample you've shown... then again,, who knows,, maybe the buyer knows someone in pcgs or ngc and has already been provided an opinion.
Bingo! It's working! Click twice on the coin above highlighting luster to see the highest resolution. It is substantially much more banged up than the HA coin. with grading being an art.... I don't know if 10 little tics = 1 big ding... I am learning/studying how lighting affects the appearance of luster. I think with more study, IMO of course, that I can learn how to deduce how a coin might look in hand. Especially if heritage continues to photograph Lincoln slabs all the same. BTW do we know who actually won that 32-D? while nothing can replace seeing a coin in hand, I feel that nothing in hand can instantly reproduce high resolution images.... at least not with my eyes! This is a hijack and I haven't determined where we are going yet. ,,, more jokes!..... Here are two images of the same coin shot at the same time. I tried to duplicate the Heritage type of image of a copper coin with what I conside,r a more preferred image showing luster and detail. Hard to believe both photos are of the same coin? Of particular notice is how the muted lighting seems to hide the tics and dings? Click twice for highest resolution.
Great News, just got off the phone with the folks at Heritage and he said that they will call and email the winner of the coin every 4hrs until Thursday with my offer (double what it sold for)! I'll keep yall posted just incase the unfortunate happens to one of you and you want some kind of recourse.
FWIW, I have never submitted a Lincoln either. However, I have looked at thousands of slabbed examples in-hand. The high grades ones (67 and above) all have the same thing in common -- glow in the dark luster. Some may have obverse ticks (as with the coin posted in this thread, and those in RLM's threads too), but they won't be obvious in-hand without magnification (like the hit on N is). All have drop dead luster.
Back to the thread at hand; I and another unnamed CT'er picked up 6 of the best possible 50's proof Roosevelts - two were unrivaled "top pops" All came in well under budget. I can't wait to have them in hand - eye candy for many rears to come. I also pursued several early Lincolns but they all were hammered down at outrageously high prices. The 32-D mentioned above was just one of many that sold for prices beyond all expectations. Is this a trend starting? I can't wait to see the results of Long Beach next month.