Collecting and Grading

A Full Head SLQ is technically defined as follows:

"If Miss Liberty's full hairline, earhole and the leaves on her laurel-like headband are visible, the coin is declared a Full Head, and worth a substantial premium over specimens of average strike."

Full Hairline + Hole in Ear + leaves visible on Headband = Full Head.

That is the basic criteria and leaves an awful lot open to interpretation IMO. Aside from the basic guidelines (Which clearly most SLQs will not have) you are of course going to have some that are better than others, and the really nicely struck coins are going to bring big money and be in very strong demand assuming they are from years where especially strong and crisp strikes are the exception rather than the rule. Of course you will find examples that meet that criteria but are better strikes than others, as I illustrated in the full head debate topic.

Like anything else in this hobby, there are degrees of anything. I have a decent number of GSA dollars that have been in the family since the 1970s. On some of the more common dates I have 4 or 5 multiples. Take the 1882-CC, I have one that is easily an MS65 and one that would be lucky to get graded MS62.

They are both Uncirculated Morgan Dollars minted in Carson City in 1882. One is just an awful lot nicer than the other.

Just like the New Orleans Morgans, they do come weakly struck. Now, if we had 2 of them, both PCGS/NGC MS63s, same date, but one had a usual weak strike and one had an exceptionally strong and crisp strike, wouldn't the crisp and strong strike, while probably notated no differently by the slabber, likely command more money in the marketplace?

JH Cline has suggested that a new grading standard be adopted for these coins, and I do agree with him as a collector of these coins. However, the fact that the market is full of investors these days will likely proclude this from happening.

 

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Is that the article you refer to about the shield?

Ruben

 

Set Grades

This is similar to my approach with my Barber Dime, Mercury Dime, and Walking Liberty Half Collections. I went after most of the key dates first and I am then "filling in" the remaining dates in the same grade range.

The Barber Dime set will be EF based on the grade of the 1895-O. The Mercury Dime set will also be in EF based on the 1916-D. The Walking Liberty set will be in VF based on the 1921, 1921-D, and 1921-S.