I have two 1950 D Jefferson Nickels and am looking for rough grades for each. Which one is better? The top is one coin and the bottom is the other. I won't hold you to the grades after all it's only photo's. Thanks Harry
I'll take door #1! There is less chatter on the obv cheek. Also, the strike on the 1st reverse is much better.
Well, After looking at my 1950 Nickel I will take them off you hands, Nice coins, top one is better. Cheryl
Both of the coins are equal in grade IMO - for different reasons. Yes the first coin has fewer contact marks, but, it was struck with very worn dies. Look at the area on the obv between the date and pony tail - see the roughness in the field. And the entire bottom half of the rev has the same roughness. And the detail of Monticello on the first coin is half that of the second coin. I'd say they are both MS64.
I prefer the second one for the reasons GDJSMP gave. That said the first looks like it could be full steps, hard to tell from the pics. If it is then given that, despite its flaws you should be able to sell it for more that the other...
I think they are about the same grade. The first has a better strike i think because of the full steps but it also has more defined contact marks like on his cheek and the top of the collar. The strike on the second on isn't as good but it also has fewer contacts marks.
It depends on the coins condition, mintmark and mintage rates for that year. Jefferson Nickels have some errors/variety's that are worth a little more. Some of the Key Dates are 1950 D, 1938 D, 1938 S, 1939 D, 1939 S. Unless they are in exceptional condition, (much better than I have here.) you are not talking a lot of money. Jefferson Nickels from 1942-1945 were roughly 35% silver due to nickel being used for the war efforts.
I sent both of these to ANACS for slabbing. They were both graded as MS64's one with a superlative of 5S. I'm impressed. Great call. How do you do it? and by a photo no less. I'll post pic's when they come in.
Good call Doug - with the photo lighting I was afraid to hazard a guess as the chatter was a little hard to make out at least on my monitor.! Nice coins HarryJ!
Lucky guess And I must admit I am surprised that ANACS graded then as 64, I would have expected higher from them. In all honesty, I truly believe that there is a technique to estimating a grade based on pictures. It is far, far from always being accurate. But when you know certain things about how a coin looks in hand and how the same coin looks in a picture, you get a feel for making allowances for the pics ( in both directions ) and then estimating the grade based on that. But you must first know how to grade coins in hand or all bets are off.
So what you're saying is that if it looks kinda sort of the same but different it might be different but kinda sort of the same in a different or kinda the same setting? Fire me up for online grading!
LOL - Thanks for the laugh Clembo - I can understand what Doug is saying and I'm sure the experience of grading coins in hand goes a loooong way. I think you then have to make some assumptions that the shot is not hiding something that would affect the grade beyond what you can make out. Taking as many pictures as I have has really made me appreciate how much can be hidden by changing the lighting. The shots can be completely in focus but angle and lighting can make a coin look completely different. It's funny because Frank had mentioned early on he liked the first one better. When I looked at the coins I noticed (as I'm sure Frank did too) the same things Doug mentioned about the pony tail and the area around the five cents. The question for me then became how does that cheek on the second coin really look in natural lighting. Harry - I haven't tried using it yet (but need to) - a diffuser on a flash may help to keep surfaces looking natural. Also different types of light bulbs (natural light) give better results.
I like the possibility of full steps on the first coin but the fields look cleaner on the 2nd. If I was buying and had the choice, I would go with #2. Also, I have been experimenting with my coin picture taking. I bought a white glass light cover for a fan application. It has a large enough hole in the top of the cone shape to poke my camera lens through. I position the coin on the table, put the light cover over it, put my camera thru the hole, with flash off and macro on, and snap. I am still experimenting with the light to get the most natural look. Camera doesn't jiggle either!
