If you look at premium gem Jefferson's from the 70's & 80's you will see a lot of them have scattered minor marks across the coin, but will usually be devoid of any major marks. As long as the coin has superlative luster like this one does, they usually will assign a premium gem grade. This is correct, PCGS is at least 1/2 more conservative on Jefferson Nickels than PCGS, but PCGS is much more lenient on the full step designation.
If I had an album I put together like that trust me when I tell you you wouldn’t be able to afford it.
Now look at the surfaces of this coin compared to some from the 70's and 80's that they assigned and MS65 grade, yet they gave this one MS66????
Another MS66 FS with plenty of minor marks, this is the standard I was expecting throughout the submission.
I actually agree with the MS65 grade on this one despite the fact that it is arguably cleaner than many of the others because the obverse luster profile is strange and not nearly as strong as the others.
This one has a significant mark in the focal area so I was a little optimistic in expecting an MS66 grade on this one.
Well they didn't seem to mind the significant mark in the focal area on this one and gave the coin an MS66, right after denying the previous coin. Head scratcher!