Hello everyone This coin just arrived this morning. I had posted a few photos of this coin the night I purchased it a week or so ago. Judging from the listing photos everyone told me it was AU 50 ish. After looking the coin over in hand it seems to look a lot better than what it did in the eBay photos. I don't know much about buffalo nickels so any opinions on grade will be appreciated. These photos are from my phone so I don't know if they will do it justice.
Ask one of the mods to combine them if there are any posts on the other. Otherwise, they can just delete the other thread. Chris
That looks better than AU50 to me. The white balance is off somewhat and this can make things a bit more difficult to interpret, but I'm seeing more like an AU58/MS coin instead of AU50. Please keep in mind that grading raw Buffalos is not my area of specialty, but it looks nice.
Thanks Tom I thought it was high AU if not ms but I know little to nothing about buffalo nickels. When I came across this coin the listing below it was a AU53 ngc buffalo and from the listing photos it appeared this coin had more detail than the au53. So I put in a bid and got it . There are a couple spots that look like it could be wear but after going over it with a loop I believe it might be the results of a weak strike.
Grading slider buff's are hard in pictures. First sign if wear should be on the hip and shoulder. But there are many years of poor/weakly struck coins to where an MS coin will have flat to no hair or horn, this is where being to view it in hand vs sub par pictures or worse (scans) will frustrate the snot out of you
Sorry I know the photos aren't much. There the best I can get with my phone. I've checked the hair above the braid and temple on the obverse and hip and shoulder on the reverse I can't see any wear. I could be wrong .
According to the ANA grading guide, the highest points are supposed to be the hip of the buffalo and the cheek of the Indian. Chris
Well I'm no expert but one thing you might consider on these nickels is, because weak strikes occur it might help to look more closely at the rim, that might have been struck up better and give you more clues to how much wear has happened. I look at silver dollars the same way. However, you also need to decide if you prefer a weak strike that grades high versus a beautiful full strike with a bit of wear. That's why a strong strike and high grade combine to make a really outstanding coin, after all.
ANA grading standards Whitman guidebook is what I've been going by . The one I have is an older book almost 10 years old if that makes a difference. I wish I had a way of getting better photos for you guys . The coin does have a lot of luster and Im fairly sure the obverse has no wear. The hip I don't believe so but not positive. I think what I'm seeing on the reverse is from a weak strike.
Ron Pope did a study consisting of around 300,000 buffalo nickels. Over 10,000 of these were 1937's. He found this date to be among the rarest to have weak strikes. Of the more than 10,000 he studied just 1% suffered from a weak strike. The 1913's were in the tenths of one percent, while the 1918-S was 43%
The coin has a lot of luster it seems it may be impaired a bit on areas of the obverse comparing it to the reverse.
