Yeah, and part of the "pocket piece" process is occasionally handling the coin. The thing is, circulating coins really aren't handled all that often. More wear than we think happens in the pocket.
I'll mention publicly if it's published; if they choose not, it'll be posted here. There are enough of us here, with enough experience, to easily teach the identification of cleaned/damaged coins without any more, ever, being ruined by experimentation. All it takes is photographic chops to properly illustrate the features, and I'll teach that to anyone who wants to put in the effort and cash to learn. The cost of one nice coin would do it.
What are "photographic chops." I'm guessing magnified photos? I seem to remember a large number of CT members arguing that you can/cannot grade using photographs. IMO, they are often useless to ID other things we see on coins too. Need Proof: Read d the nonsense on this old thread: "Cleaned or Polished Die?" So much to NOT explain in 2 seconds of the original post that a toned Silver Eagle was ruined by a wheel mark! After the first 2 pages of "nothing" (except for one member who recognized what happened but could not remember what to call it) I stopped reading the BS and misinformation as it was hurting my head. I'm afraid to look at that thread again to see if someone FINALLY set the record straight.
Trust me, KJ, I live in "Scrapple Ground Zero" a stone's throw from Green Dragon Farmers Market near Ephrata, PA. The "scars" from scrapple ingestion abound in the typical physiques hereabouts. It's NOT a good look. The term is "zaftig". Makes the Pillsbury Dough Boy look svelte. Keeps local cardiologists in German luxury cars, though.
Grew up on a farm, made and ate everything from my favorite blood sausage to head cheese. One of my jobs was brushing the hogs teeth before it was thrown in the pot to cook, still make my own lard and cracking mmm mmm good
But that was all pre processed with hardly any chemicals added like Hormones , massive doses of antibiotics and not pasteurized , which might have been good for the masses because of ingesting spoiled milk . Nothing like a glass of fresh milk straight from the cow .
"Chops" is a slang term referring to "skill." Tell me, Insider, would you be willing to grade from an image like this? I'm posting it as large as CT can handle; the original is much larger. I can teach anyone here who has ~$500 to spend on equipment to shoot images that good or better. Don't tell me you can't grade from images. I know better.
That's what NGC called it. The first time. Bought it in a 63 slab, cracked it to hone my imaging skills, and resubmitted. Came back 62.
You're making me homesick for a place where I only lived three years. I only got up to Green Dragon a few times, and even though Roots down by Lancaster was only 15 minutes or so from our apartment, I wasn't a regular there. Of course, if I had been, I'd probably weigh 20 pounds more now. Yum!
I'm one of the posters who said YOU CAN USE THE IMAGES IN THE GRADING GUIDES. Absolutely. You are one of the authorities around here concerning how to photo coins and this image shows "chops!." WOW, I just clicked "to enlarge" and your photo is sharper than the PCGS Coin Facts! You could easily get a job at a major auction company. Really. IMO, Large cent has a v. slight amount of luster loss friction, full strike, dripping w/ nice brown luster. My personal MS-62 (It would never be priced that low) TPGS MS-63 all day long as the carbon spots keep it from grading higher.
No fair! I was writing my opinion WAY before Post#133 and #134 were posted. Now I get no "cred" (slang for ...) for my guess.
Send it to PCGS. IMO, the coin should be in a 63 holder. If you let NCS have it to conserve I'll bet NGC would slab it as a 63 again: However, I have heard that NCS is "killing" copper right now so I would not risk it. Your coin is a 63 all day and worth 63 money.
Chill, man. That's a figure of speech. Point is, that was shot (and sold) 8 years ago with much older technology. Got $550 for it. Today, it's possible to shoot a coin with such optical accuracy that it can be easily told from any other coin, even with just a full-face image. A Canon T6i will double that image size, just as sharp, with the right lens. The surface features we argue about so often? Unequivocally, sharply, forever defined, leaving nothing to doubt. I was just learning back then. I bought the coin to have a clearly Mint State Brown copper under the lens. Well, that, and I liked the die cracks. As long as the plastic is clean and clear, you can make the lens completely ignore it and the viewer won't know it was shot through a slab if you mask the background.