How is this an MS-69? PCGS 2021 Peace Dollar

I preordered a PCGS slabbed MS-69 2021 Peace Dollar, and it finally arrived today. However, upon initial inspection, I could quickly tell that there were hit marks along the cheek area of the bust.

There are more than a couple small hits, and they're all in a high focal area. Some more are on the neck but are only about half as wide, but almost as many hits in number. The roughly even spacing makes me think that the edge of another Peace Dollar hit this coin there.

Do a lot of these types of marks pass as MS-69 by PCGS lately? Or, is this actually supposed to be an MS-69 somehow?

Thanks in advance!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

They might have graded these on a curve as plenty had issues directly from the US Mint from what I read others reporting. Also, moderns don't necessarily get as much attention; 69 and 70 are the two most common grades. It can take a lot to lower a coin to a 68.

 

Let's see the obverse of the coin with slab label. That is not a 69 with those hits on the cheek.

 

69s can have marks as coins are graded as an aggregate of the whole and the days of counting marks have been long gone. That said with ultra ultra moderns "hits" arent always hits either. Die issues or planchet issues can often be confused with hits.

What process would need to occur for the cheek could have hits from something and the hair would appear perfectly fine in the pictures which is significantly raised?

 

The reeded edge of another coin sliding across the check is the first thought. It could be anything. I count 13 small scratches that are likely PMD based on the photo.

 

Would need to do more than just slide, it'd have to hit with force which then when are there a couple sporadic marks lower, when are some marks less than others, and why does there appear to be raised

I'm pretty comfortable that some coin didnt blasted it across the face making a bunch of marks by the grade with again how would that happen for a product getting put into individual packaging and not ejected in to massive bins/bags

 

I am fairly confident that the marks are too regularly spaced and fairly even in length to be planchet roughness not struck out.

 

You simply cant randomly have another coin hit all those points at various heights with enough force to make them much less make them inconsistently especially with raised dots.

It's just simple psychics

Again though how is a coin being put into individual packing supposed to be hit by another one when its not being ejected into bins and bags? Until you can answer that there should be no confidence

 

What's left? Die scratches (raised lines) would be on multiple coins. Struck through would look different. I am not convinced this is in a PCGS slab graded MS69 until I see the obverse with the label and clear enough picture. The simplest answer is PMD. All kinds of things would have to align to not be PMD. I said coin scrape was the first thing that came to mind but that it could be a multitude of things to cause the damage in the one photo provided to this point.

 

Coins dont hit and roll across another coin with another force to make indentations especially not at varying gaps and pressures and lengths starting at the lowest relief working up over a long distance and leaving raised dots. You have to have enough force for a mark which wouldn't be sporadic or or have different lengths on the marks and be able to roll across the face.

There's been errors on the Morgans no reason they couldnt be on these. Would need to see more if its repeating or not which people thought the Morgan ones were PMD.

 

Which error(s) do you attribute to the marks then? I know we need to see more and better pictures, but from the evidence provided so far (a single picture with an unverified statement of grade and TPG), I have to go with PMD over an error. Give me more evidence that changes my mind and I will state that I was wrong and you were right, if you will agree to do the same if it turns out to be PMD after all.

 

That looks awful. Embarrassing that modern peaces are in worse condition straight from the mint than those minted 100 years ago. Technology is regressing

 

More pics... I should've added these at the start lol.

I added a closeup of the marks on the neck. In total, between the cheek and neck area, there are I think 27 marks when looking through the loupe and counting the faintest to the most obvious marks.

My first thought was that these are hit marks and that they are too excessive for the given grade, esp. since most of it's on a focal area. But, it also seems a little too obvious for two (or three) PCGS graders to miss the mark; yet they gave the same MS-69 grade - so maybe they're something else? Though, it's also not unheard of that bad grades get slabbed. So, it's quite a bit perplexing to me.

 

I would send it Back , IMO.

 

Answer the questions

 

Looks like a 69 when it comes to bullion coins to me, where they will grade a bunch as 70s also which they'd never do for non-bullion coins.

I think it's low end for a 69 though and there are better examples in that grade to get for the same money.

Realistically speaking if it was a Kennedy half or anything struck as circulation coins it wouldn't get past MS68. But comparing it to MS silver eagles, that's a MS69 but I wouldn't be surprised if it got a MS68 either.

69 is gonna be minor imperfection(s)that keep it from 70 but nothing big enough to make it 68. that what this is, very minor. But if you aren't happy with it, return it. There are better 69s out there than the one shown. It looks bad at the right angles with the light, but these are very slight contact marks doing it, I think slight contact with a reeded edge if I had to guess on how it happened.

 

That's what I was gonna say...totally unacceptable.

 

As ddddd mentioned, with modern commems it can take a lot to get a 68, so if it isn't a 70, it must be a 69. Makes grading easy.

 

its not a 69 and everybody loves PCGS.