Guess the Grade--1951 Washington Quarter--Bonus!!!

Heavy leg activity? Er, what does that even mean?

 

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The eagle(the animal on the reverse) has 2 legs, the right(camera left) of which has a lot of marks.

 

Yeah, I know what an eagle is, thanks. Why not just say the eagle's leg has a lot of marks (which by the way it doesn't, I count only three especially noticeable ones, which I wouldn't qualify as "a lot")?

And I think it's a fairly decent strike relative to the series; short of proofs you never really see this especially fully struck, and the TPGs seem to make allowances for that kind of thing. Seeing any breast feather detail on the eagle at all and any kind of detail in Washington's hair at all should get it 65 by itself. 65's I've seen look worse than this with far more obvious marks. I'd say this would get a 66 at least, but we shall see.

 

Should we all use the same words?

 

Nice looking quarter but I'll sit this one out. Can't wait to see what it comes back with. Good luck!!

 

Here's a random 66 from ebay. I think theres just a hint more cross stitch pattern detail in the breast feathers than the OP coin. With all my 65 WQs vs 66s the main difference has been the strike.

 

Nah, just say the trombone has a lot of applesauce, and I'm sure everyone will understand precisely what you mean.

If you want to convey meaning to people it pays to use phrasing people will understand. "Heavy leg activity" doesn't really convey the sense that the eagle's leg has "a lot" (if you want to say 3 is a lot) of marks. The leg isn't doing anything; it had something done to it, so "activity" doesn't seem very precise. Maybe to you it does, and you look it at it and "heavy leg activity" is the first thing that pops into your head. But well the phrase leaves something to be desired when trying to convey that sense to others. I had no idea what you meant until you used plainer language, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

What year is that? And looks to be about as much chest detail as the OP's coin as far as I can tell (but kind of hard to tell because of the smaller picture).

Well not sure how picky NGC is these days. But I still think it's a 65 at least (and I've seen many 65's that look a lot worse. It may not be quite as fully struck as the ebay coin, but it has a lot less marks than I've seen on a lot of Washington quarters that only got a 65, so I still think a 66 is possible. I own a PCGS-graded quarter that got a 65 that looks way worse than the OP's coin).

But then who knows, could depend on what the grader has for breakfast that day. Even the best TPGs aren't perfectly consistent. Less marks but weaker strike, is that a wash or does having fewer marks make it better? I know what my opinion is, and what yours is, but wouldn't hazard a guess at what the grader's opinion will be.

 

Same year. I played fair. I am seeing a more bulbous breast protusion and cross stitch feathering myself but I could be wrong who knows. Well see when the coins get back I guess. I have read "activity in the fields" as a descriptor of a coins markings there. Cant imagine the samantics would be much different when the "activity"occurred on a leg or a sun or whatever device might be pertinent to the description.

 

Here's a Heritage auctions title:

1886-S S$1 MS63 PCGS. Boldly struck, fully lustrous, and mildly frosty, with substantial cartwheel activity in the fields, ...

http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=373&lotIdNo=80032

 

Eh, fair enough, I don't read a lot of auction listings so not familiar with the semantics they use. Though I probably would have understood "heavy activity on the leg" more readily than "heavy leg activity" because the latter makes it sound like the leg is doing something, rather than something being done to the leg. Sorry if I'm being too nitpicky but sometimes I can't help it; a big part of my experience in accounting and tax preparation is to take technical language and terms of art and translate it into language that any lay person can understand, and thus I take pains to avoid terms of art, jargon, and figurative language whenever possible. "Activity" just sounds, well, active, and it's not like the coin is acquiring more marks, assuming it's being handled carefully, so more passive language seems appropriate. And well, usually it just seems more clear when the subject (activity) precedes the object (the leg), which it did even in the example you quoted. In college people had me proofread their papers all the time because I'd catch things like that.

And well no such thing as a wrong opinion. Your estimate of the grader's opinion may be wrong, and mine might be too, but well you gave your opinion on the grade, and I gave mine. Will either of our opinions be the same as the grader's? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

I dont mind at all. I enjoy senseless arguing as much as anyone. It is entirely possible that the strike is better than the pics show due to the light placement whiting out some feather activity But even so I think the hits on the legs are too prominent for a 66. Now that being said NGC and PCGS tend to have different standards especially when it comes to more modern stuff so I could see NGC going 66 but I would bet a well struck eagle's tail feather it would be a 65 at PCGS>

 

i would say ms 63

 

This one started as a PCI MS67 and downgraded to an NGC MS66:





One outta two ain't bad!

 

Not too shabby...........