The Official CoinTalk Grading Experiment 4

To be clear I chose 65.

 

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Just to be clear, MS63 all day long is my vote.

 

For educational reasons, could you explain why?

 

64 with just the big pictures, but I upped it to 65 after seeing the full slab shots. I think lighting wasn't kind to this one in the bigger photos.

 

Yes, I can explain why I think so. Theres a few contact marks from something on the reverse between the lettering and the wreath otherwise it's pretty clean. Now the obverse... the rub contact marks on the cheek and neck as well as in front of her nose in the field are distracting. not deep, but distracting.
The Top pictures are about 125% actual size, bottom pictures in slab are about 75% actual size. The marks are exaggerated in the top photo and downplayed in the slab photos, but to the eye in hand they are going to be clearly visible when rotated and distracting to a grader. although the reverse is relatively clean around the eagle. The obverse has marks In critical locations. and I'd be surprised if it made MS64 in their opinion on it. On the other hand though I think the reverse qualifies for MS65, and obverse for MS63. They could have split it with a MS64 I guess.

I'm not a professional grader though, so there's that. I also prefer to go worse case scenario and be overly critical and be pleasantly surprised with a higher grade than expected and why I pegged it at MS63.

 

Thanks for playing the game, and explaining your reasoning. I appreciate it.

 

This is a textbook 65. I have seen worse in 66 holders.

 

I guessed 66 as well. Clean fields, nice strike,minimal abrasions, can’t read the luster as usual but if it’s there I see 66... I’m guessing the top photos make the frost breaks look worse than they are.

 

I can’t see much luster in the pictures. That’s why I won’t go higher than 64. Maybe the coin has good luster, but the pictures don’t show it. I also agree with @John Burgess assessment. Technically it’s not a gem BU coin, no matter how nice it looks.

 

The close-up picture looks like an MS-63 to me, which is the way I voted. The whole slab picture makes it look like an MS-64 or 65.

I don't like whole slab photos in general because the coin, not the holder, is what determines the grade. Given the look of the Ms. Liberty's cheek in the close-up, I can't see that grading beyond MS-63+.

 

Reminder to post your grades in the poll. I'll post the results Wednesday when I get home from work.

 

Thanks again Jason for doing these threads. It’s something else to look forward to around here.

 

I voted MS67 because MS66+ is not an option on the list.

 

Another vote for MS-65.

 

Sorry guys, but I don't see where you can grade this as an MS-65 with this much clatter on the cheek and portrait. I don't care what photo angle you are looking at, you can't ignore this when you are grading the coin.

 

Honestly, I think you're reading the photo wrong. Those areas look more like simple luster breaks and/or stains in the slab shot, accentuated by the overlit closeups. Not "chatter" in my opinion. My vote was 66. We shall see.

 

Well, go ahead and pay MS-65 money for it. You don't have "luster breaks" in MS-65 graded coins unless you believe in grade-flation. This is one of the reasons why the auction houses show the whole slab instead of the close-up of the coin. It's easier to hide the defects. I buy coins, not slab grades.

Even the slab picture that seems to have a 100% influence on your grading shows a coin that is no better than MS-64.

 

Couldn't the much better looking reverse average it out to a 65 with today's grading standards ? We'll soon find out.
Those that have a lot of experience with this auction house's photography have the advantage here me thinks.

 

Good points. However looking at Liberty’s hair, there’s some friction and the color is darker. Technically I’d say it’s either an Au58 or maybe an MS64, but NOT a gem BU coin. I was shocked when I read that others would go as high as MS67. But what do I know.

 

The reverse is very often better than the obverse on Morgan Dollars and many other coins. The reverse has less influence on the overall grade than the obverse. A great reverse will not offset a mediocre obverse.