Grading opinions with better pictures - Stone Mountain Half Dollar

Many thanks to @jtlee321 for the help photographing these coins. He totally rocks.

Single light source and taken with an iPhone. Two different coins.

 

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Nice luster! I'll say 64

 

58. Look at the high points of the eagle's left wing near the A in America, and the left leg on the obverse.

 

I agree with the 58

 

How far away is your phone from the coin? Also, which iPhone are you using?

 

Distance matters with the iPhone camera. About a half-inch difference in height made a significant difference in the clarity of the coin.

 

Exactly like @jtlee321 from on top of 2 mega reds with an iPhone 6s

 

IMO you light source is too close or too bright.
The high points on the coin are washed out so that fine details cannot be seen.
Hence the difference between MS and AU cannot be made -- at least by me.

 

I find half that distance to work better. Try it out. Experiment by adding/removing sheets of paper until you have a perfect height.

 

Notwithstanding better pictures, I have examined the areas in question and can see no rub on either coin in the areas of the eagle’s wing, nor Jackson’s knee. To the best of my knowledge both coins are indeed MS.

According to the Red Book Professional Edition, the first points of wear are typically Lee’s elbow and leg (Jackson’s?) and the Eagle’s breast.

 

Thank you all for the opinions and keep them coming! For what I paid, they are a bargain even if they’re AU

 

I think that even with @jtlee321 and his excellent advise, I still had hot spots due to a single light source.

 

That’s why you experiment with what you have.

 

I agree. I'm seeing an easy MS64. That glare is hiding a lot of the detail.

 

I’ll take more pix

 

I say the first coin is likely an MS 64/65 coin for these reasons
Lee's leg is a little flat, but the folds of his coat have descent detail, so I would attribute the leg flatness to strike and not wear
Where Traveler's bridle crosses the holster it appears to be full
Although there is a lot of glare, Lee's glove appears to be full
Jackson's face is a nice strike, which I find somewhat rare

On the reverse I can count 32 of the 35 stars even with all the glare
This is pretty good because any miss in the strike process makes them fade
I see no loss of detail in the wing, but good detail on the Eagle's breast

With all the glare I cannot tell about the second coin, but nice

 

This is a solid 64

 

Can't grade from these pics.