Guess The Grade - 1873 S $5 Gold Liberty Half Eagle

The grade on this surprised me, so I'm very curious as to your thoughts and any input. It's not a common coin - from PCGS -
David Akers (1975/88): The 1873-S is extremely rare in any condition. It is more rare than the 1868-S, 1869-S, 1871-S or 1872-S and is equal in rarity to the 1870-S. Almost all known specimens are well worn. All 1873-S Half Eagles have a Closed 3 in the date, and the mintmark is always weak.
David Hall:
I believe the 1873-S $5 Liberty may be unknown in mint state condition. I have never seen one and I can find no auction records of one ever offered as uncirculated.

 

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MS60

 

Xf45

 

XF45-AU50

 

It looks cleaned from that picture. If they ignored that, it shouldn’t grade any high than EF-45. I’m thinking more like EF-40.

There is a school of thinking that says the rarer it is, the loser the grading. I strongly disagree with that school.

 

I agree with @ToughCOINS …I see evidence of wear on the eyebrow, nostril, chin and the hair curl in the center of the neck…also see the cleaning around the stars.
…would not straight grade.

If it did I think the wear is AU53…lovely gold $5…imo…Spark

 

AU53

 

AU-55

 

Guessing a punishment 40

 

That 3 is not closed as OP stated. Wouldn’t that count for something

 

AU 55 Details Cleaned (ICG slab would specify the number for details unlike PCGS or NGC, who would just say AU)

 

Cheech…yes it is. Google: “1873 open 3 vs closed 3”. This will give you pictures showing the difference…Spark

 

And here's the reveal! There is likely evidence of mounting on the rim where we can't see it, but nonetheless I think the grader was having a grumpy day - I'd call it XF Details, Cleaned, if not AU, given the strikes on these were pretty weak in general looking at other 1873-S half eagles - in any case, I picked up a rarity in gold that I like a lot for a very reasonable price, so I am pleased! Thank you all for your input. Edit - note that PCGS has a survival estimate of 100 for these (31,000 minted) and it's R8.0

 

It was net grading due the former jewelry use. Had it not been for the mount on the edge, which none us could see, EF sharpness would have been the call.

 

Not for many coin buyers. Some of them need a firm guide to tell them what the net grade and price should be. Usually a problem like moderate cleaning drops the net grade one notch. When you have cleaned and mounted, you could be looking at two notches. If you have hole, it’s even more. Some collectors think that a hole is the worst defect of all for a genuine coin.

 

Like ToughCOINS, I thought that by noting the Details the TPG was taking them into account so that the "grade" would assess the sharpness / qualities of the coin aside from the noted Details problems. I do have some older ANACS holders with a "Net" grade, which I always thought was interesting. In any case - I like this coin a lot, whatever the slab says - and the slab verifies it's authenticity, which is important to me on rarer coins. My least favorite defect is tooling I think - a hole can be really bad though, depending on where it is and the size.