GTG 1957 Jefferson Nickel

Please GTG of the 1957 Jefferson Nickel shown below. I have attached a poll for you to cast your vote and you may select up to 3 different things: the numerical grade, Full Steps or not, and the + designation.




As always, comments welcome, and please remember to vote in the poll.

 

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I'll jump n first. MS65FS

 

Going with my gut on this one.

AU58

While I do find this as an attractive nickel, I do not believe this can be anything higher than a 63. To me the surfaces of the coin seem to have tiny minuscule ticks that seem to be circulation hits. It could be a weak strike but to me the high points of the coin indicate some level of wear. There are also several areas that appear to have a slightly different hue indicating some movement of metal. The luster seems to be flat and only showing it’s face in the small protected areas of the devices and legend. The stairs do seem very nice and fully struck. I bet this was a nice 66FS before it was used in commerce for a short time.

 

Just curious, if you are wrong, and the coin is actually mint state, are you saying it is MS66 FS?

 

I'm also going with AU58. There seems to be a little rub on the raised surfaces.

 

Seems like an AU coin to me. The steps are close, but I don't think the full steps are there

 

I went with 64 5fs ....lots of ticks and the fields are less than pristine...I think the steps just barely make it

After reading the comments, I can see the case for AU 58 like @kSigSteve makes (that might explain what I was seeing in the fields) but I will stick to it being a mint state example.

 

Based upon the pics, MS-63, N-FS.

 

If the coin is MS I don’t think it would have the tiny tick marks so if this coin is in fact an MS coin with the marks I would be at 63. The marks could also be from the planchet and didn’t strike out fully. On this coin I tried to hold my phone a bit further out and imagined having it in hand. The luster is a bit more dull than I would like on a 66. I wouldn’t like a 66 5FS price tag with it and would probably pass it up over something down the road with better luster and eye appeal.

So my grade is from AU58-66 5FS. Somewhere between there is right.

 

I'm at a weaker MS-65 not full steps. A lot of that chatter is from planchet preparation that did not get struck out. I do see chatter in the fields behind Jefferson and in front of him. The images make the coin appear to be a bit weak in luster, so that keeps it limited in it's grade. The middle left of the 3rd and 4th step appear to be merged, preventing the 5 FS designation.

 

I'm MS65 5FS on this one. The steps look to be 6-5-5-5 to me. No major hits on this one but the strike on the obverse feels weaker than the reverse. The coin overall has a "rough" look but that might just be the toning. There are a handful of marks on the jaw and on the Monticello near the dome. I think both sides are about equal as far as marks.

 

63

 

MS63. Has zero eye appeal to me. Not much luster and lots of nicks. Nice but not much to write home about.

 

Honestly, I think this coin is higher grade than it looks. It looks like the planchet was a bit rough.

 

I went with MS-64 and I can only see 4 full steps. Is it bedtime or am I correct?

 

I came to the same conclusion as jtlee.

 

Reveal in an hour!

 

63 5FS

 

Ok, so this coin came from a mint set that was authenticated and graded by ANACS. And while you guys didn't have that information to avoid the AU grades, everybody had the sense not to grade the coin MS66 FS. This coin is the nickel on the right in the photo below.



Personally, I grade this coin MS64 FS, and the FS designation is generous. I doubt that NGC would grade this coin FS.

In our recent discussions as to why ANACS & ICG are second tier grading companies, this is a perfect anecdotal example of why.

 

I am late for this party. I would have gone 65 FS. People who are grading it AU just don’t know what they are talking about. Question to the AU group—do you know what the typical business strike for 1957 and 1958 look like? Guess not. They are not wonderfully struck. You folks are. It seeing wear—you are seeing a sub prime strike.