I have had these for around 4-6 months now, and its time for me to ask what you guys think they'll grade at!
The walker is a bit baggy on the obv, so my guess is MS63 Merc is pretty solid, but the strike isn't the best. My guess there is AU58
It appears to have hairline scratches esp on the obverse fields which are a telltale sign of cleaning. This is because cleaning typically utilizes friction, in which an abrasive compound is rubbed against the metal leaving scratches. Then again, those marks could be bag marks, but in this case looks more like hairlines.
This Coin Shows lifeless luster, which is typically for cleaning. There is no cartwheel Luster at all. Sorry.
I would say MS 62-63 for the Walking Liberty. & AU 55 - 58 for the Mercury Dime. Nice coins! Silver coins are beautiful.
How do people tell the difference between bag marks/contact marks vs. cleaning marks? I suck at identifying cleaned coins and I would like to get better so I can have the confidence to buy raw coins. So far I’ve only purchased PCGS/NGC slabbed coins aside from like American Silver Eagles & stuff I get directly from the Mint.
For the most part, bag marks are wider than hairlines. Hairlines are also more dense than bag marks. Basically, picture taking sandpaper to an object vs a chisel
Ahh gotchya! Thanks! That's interesting because when I bought my V75 ASE it has a couple hairline scratches on it even though I haven't taken it out of the capsule. I checked to make sure it wasn't on just the capsule but sadly I can see them on the coin under magnification. Only under a super bright light though. It frustrates me that it has them but returning it would be pointless since I think it's still worth more than the $83 I paid.
