Seen coins with similar or worse staining or discolored spotting than this one and not get "Details-Graffiti" designation. So when does it become graffiti? (according to grading definition)
Spotting and discoloring isn't why it the graffiti designation. Right field on the obverse. It looks old and not horrendous, but I've seen much worse designations for more minor things that just make you laugh and go what
Here is its True View for the sake of discussion. Looks like someone with the initials AP had it in their possession at some point.
Carving or writing something into a coin turns into graffiti, counterstamps is a different situation. Nice to see @NSP on here, didn't know he had a CT.
If there is one line, it is a scratch. If there are two scratches intersecting, creating an "X", it has become graffiti. ...Just a guess since I have seen coins with just an X scratch labeled graffiti.
... but I reckon a single scratch could be considered graffiti as well if it were located somewhere the graders decided was intentional (like a homemade re engraved date first digit).
I don't know that there is a hard and fast rule defining graffiti. Based on what I've seen over the years it's a matter of opinion and nothing more. I've even seen coins labeled as having graffiti and then cracked, sent to a different TPG or even the same TPG and come back with a clean grade. Or, come back with a scratched label.
Another one of my personal favorites is when a coin obviously has graffiti but they let it slide. In particular, an “X” scratched across one side of the coin that has since partially worn away (but is still readily noticeable). Here’s two examples of graffiti that was given a pass, though I honestly think both should be in details holders even though they are old, worn, and fairly uncommon: https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/246464/1819-Capped-Bust-Quarter-Large-9-PCGS-VG-10 https://coins.ha.com/itm/a/1251-9311.s
Back in the old days some dealers, and or collectors, would sometimes scratch an X into a coin to mark it for one reason or another. Usually because the coin was a fake, or there was something wrong with it, it was problem coin in other words. This was their way of letting others know down the road and hopefully saving them a bit of grief.
I would say that any group of two or more scratches (or one scratch that is continuous and looks like a letter/number) that look like they are intended to be something other than random scratches would be considered "graffiti". Maybe a corollary question would be: Suppose you have two unrelated scratches that together would not result in a details grade. Now suppose those exact same scratches are arranged to clearly make a letter. Would this coin now get a grade of Details-Graffiti? In other words, in normal grading practice, is there a different and less rigorous standard for scratches versus graffiti? Here is my 1740 8 Reale piece that is NGC-graded F Details-Graffiti. Graffiti located in the top field just below the UE. My guess is that if these scratches were unrelated to each other that this lowish-grade 280-year old coin would have straight-graded.
If there is I've never heard or read of one. About all one can do is assume that it is left to the graders' and the finalizer's discretion as to whether it's graffiti or not. Even when it comes to just plain scratches it's always discretionary, there are no hard and fast rules that state "this" is too much or "that" is not enough. Put another way, for a coin to be designated as a problem coin because of a single scratch or a combination scratches it's a matter of degree. Too deep, too long, too numerous, location, coin type, and even large or small sized coins - all of those things matter when making the determination.
I think that most just see it as damage and don't care what the label has to say. I'm glad someone picked a small spot to mess with this one. Looks good in a Dansco.
in front of his nose, the AP scratched into the surface is the graffiti. Anytime theres discernible letters or numbers scratched into coins, or art work, it's noted as "Graffiti" by the graders. Scratches are scratches, but if it's legible and identifiable as letters numbers or a design it's called graffiti, and not simply scratches, it was intentional.
