Would you say that the lower/higher grade is when the coin is better than the highest of one grade but is only very slightly lower than the next grade. I mean like F/FV, G/VG, or FV/XF. I am wondering because after looking at the coin below it looks more like the F12 coin but the I is cut off but is better than the VG10 coin. That would be an example of VG/F or at least VG+?
There are in-between grades such as vg-10, f-15 and so on so yes there are in-between grades but for lower grade coins there is really no need for them unless its a key date worth a significant amount
Yes, I know there are in between grade like those on PCGS Photograde but there is only two in each grade in the lower grade coins. There is VG08, VG10, then comes F12. I would say this coin above is VG/F, not quite F12 but better than VG10. So the grade+ means higher of the in betwen grades? This isn't a key date or semi-key but not the most common of the series. It has no "cents" on the back. I do see for the higher grades, there are far more inbetween grades.
The coin looks like a nice example of VG-10 to me, but as you say not quite a F-12. In this case, the coin would receive the lover grade of VG-10. The problem is that grading is so subjective (especially in the lower grades) that a 70 point grade scale would be a bit much to grade at every point level. Could you imagine a VG-11...my head would explode.
Yes, real close but no cigar for f-12 since the "I" is not full but better than VG10 so maybe a better VG-10 example. In the Fine grade the "I" can be faint and some letters not strong but the all letters are present in "LIBERTY". The seller listed it as VG, a conservative grade. Others on the other hand have given coins just like this a F-12 grade. Like you said, grading can be very subjective but always good to play it safe. I am grasping at straws here since I checked on Numismedia and the Redbook and both show that there is only a dollar difference between most grades of this coin so a grade+ coin would only be 50 cents more. These prices are on the high end as well so their isn't much difference in value between the grades on this coin. Probably it would make more of a difference when the coin is a key date as you stated. I paid $3.40 and Redbook lists it as $8 so I did okay.
The 1883 N/C is a common and affordable coin in higher grades. When I collected circulated coins, I would always want at least one example of a high grade coin in each album. For me the 1883 N/C was a perfect choice because it was the first of the series and was relatively cheap compared to the rest of the series. Now I am spoiled and collect early proofs, but I still try to get at least one really high grade coin in each set.
Yes, the higher grades of this coin are relatively inexpensive since there is only a dollar difference between the grades with the exception of a couple and it is the first in the series. Other earlier years of this coin especially 1885 and 1886 are quite high. As Green18 said though, it really matters if you are pleased with the a coin which I am and I got a good deal on it, under half of its list price. I can see why you picked this coin to be your high grade example though due to little difference in price between the grades.
