Please GTG of the 1950 Jefferson Nickel shown below. I have attached a poll for you to cast your vote and you may select up to 4 different things: the numerical grade, CAMEO or DCAM, the + designation, and the * designation. As always, comments welcome, and please remember to vote in the poll.
I went PF-65 due to the carbon spot. I also believe it is a cameo but just missed short of Deep Cameo.
PF 66 Cameo...a few small spots in the hair and some minor disturbances prevent a higher grade...cameo is a close call but I gave it the benefit
Reveal: 1950 Jefferson Nickel NGC PF66 NGC really has a problem with consistent application of their designations. They gave the star designation two functions. First, exceptional eye appeal such as that created by lustrous rainbow toning, and the second is to reward coins that have cameo or deep cameo on only one side of the coin. Now, it is perfectly reasonable to question the obverse which I think just misses the cameo designation, but the reverse is DCAM all day long. They only had two options, grade the coin PF66 CAMEO or give it a star, PF66*. In typical NGC fashion, they blew it again.
I agree with you that it deserved at least a star. I have not studied this closely, but it seems like they are more likely to give a star for an obverse-only cameo as opposed to a reverse-only cameo. It should not matter but I wonder if they apply the general standard of valuing the obverse more?
I am not even sure why I am mad. I wasn't the submitter, but they have screwed me so many times in the past that whenever I see stuff like this, it makes my blood boil. And then I look at coins like this one shown below that are graded CAMEO and look exactly like the subject of this thread. It is maddening.