Wondering what Grade this nickel is!

Very Nice! MS-65

 

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I guess it is worth a grading attempt, I don't follow nickels, so I had no idea, but now I see it is potentially worth the effort.

 

With out it being graded it would be hard to set the value on it.

 

Since it is a common date and not a gem it wouldn't be worth grading. I see a few red flags with this coin. The luster seems a bit dull and the green splotch on the reverse next to the "U" in United raises a red flag. That said, I haven't had a good track record with my Buffalo submissions to PCGS. Some I thought had good luster came back as unc details - cleaned.

 

For those who think that this grades MS-65 or higher, I would present you with these pictures.



This is an MS-66. This coin has full luster and the design details are "hammered" (very well struck with strong details) with very few marks.

The OP coin is probably an AU-58.

 

For those who have asked about value, PCGS shows $22 for the value if AU58, up to $125 if it is really MS65.

At AU58, the cost of grading / slabbing is about the value of the coin. If sold after that, you are basically taking the value of the coin and giving it straight to the graders. You would be left with no coin and no money!

You should be really sure this is going to be worth grading. That’s hard to do unless you are very skilled at grading Buffaloes, and they are widely considered in this forum to be difficult.

They are struck on a hard metal with high relief, so the highest points are often flattened because the metal just doesn’t flow up there. Those are the same points that would suffer rub first. So you have to be really confident that the unstruck rough spots (which are really the raw surface of the planchet showing through the strike) can be be distinguished from rub or wear from handling.

I’m not good at that. To get accurate assessments from the members here, you would need really excellent lighting and photos of those tough areas.

Here’s an example. (You may want to enlarge the animation.)

Is the horn a little flat because the strike did not fill the die at that spot, or is it flat because it was handled a bit. How much handling would it take to flatten it? How quickly does handling leave any kind of mark on nickel? And what other signs would the handling leave?

Maybe it was struck a bit flat, and then handled too. What change in reflectivity or luster would that make on the horn, and where else would there be signs of it? And what about the shoulder? Does it look handled, or is it just dull because it is the original surface of the planchet, which was never forced fully up into the recess of the die?

 

MS64

 

Buffalo nickels are notoriously difficult to grade, even in-hand, so it is really difficult from a photo. They are well known to have weak strikes on one or both sides, so careful scrutiny is necessary.
1935 is a common year, so there are plenty out there. I hope it comes back MS and I'm guessing MS62, but depending upon the TPG and day of the week, we won't know until it does. Be sure to post the results when you get it back. Nice photos, and thanks for the post.

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback! I will be taking the gamble more-so as a learning experience to know what to expect and not expect with buffalos! The photos I provided were the best photos I could get using my phone. I will be sending it out after the holiday and will report back the details! I was going to send it to NGC, but would pcgs be better? I can get the gold membership and get 4 grading vouchers will that work?

 

Not worth grading, and I don't see it as MS.
This coin has circulated, and not just a little.

 

Feels like an AU58 to me. Also has a couple nasty spots that should be removed. Not worth grading. Go to a coin show and look at a 66 or 67 in person and compare with yours.

 

The corrosion on the rev will kill your hopes of this submission coming back gem. I don't play the grading game from photos. As you can see from your own pix @dedrikski the difference in lighting alone can present varying degrees of wear and luster.

Honestly, I'd save my money for a worthy submission. You mentioned in one of your posts you are hoping for 66 or 67. Let me ask you a serious question. If you were the buyer and a seller put your coin, slabbed with a 67 in front of you, would you pay MS67 value on a coin with obvious corrosion on it? Or would you look for the 67 that's problem free?

 

I agree, I have taken more time to go over the coin. Its very difficult to grade from photos, without a microscope or anything. I wont be sendng it in.

 

@dedrikski your coin is well-struck for a '35, and has only a few ticks, but I see no mint luster (based upon the 2nd set of photos) which tells me it has seen some abrasive applied to it; too bad, as the strike and few ticks would otherwise have graded it an MS-67 IMO.

Notwithstanding mine, and some other's opinions, If you do want to have it graded and desire to do the footwork, I would suggest first sending it to ANACS (least expensive of the 3 TPG's) and IF it does grade at least an MS-66, then have a dealer send it to PCGS (NGC doesn't accept ANACS) for Cross Over. Alternatively, you could send it to Great Collections (GC) and they will submit it to either ANACS, PCGS or NGC for you (this is the least expensive way to submit to a TPG and also have the coin sold at auction); if it receives a Details Grade-Cleaned, you can ask GC to return it to you (and just pay their fees + the TPG Grading Fee).

 

Yeah, so it has luster in hand, the send photo I changed my lighting, it’s not “brilliant” but it’s not that dull color, I have revived so many mixed opinions so I’ll probably send it to Anacs to take the gamble at this point! It seems IMO to be very high grade, I have looked at it for too long now, I can’t see anything wrong with it and even the “corrosion” is just a couple specs of dirt I am too afraid to try to remove. I’ll be grading it, and hoping for the best! This was good advice!

 

My first impression was cleaned. Still a nice example. If not cleaned 64.

 

It shows no sign of being cleaned, no scratches no hairlines, no scuffs, plus it has two pieces of dirt. I’d say it wasn’t circulated for long if it was, but I know it was in a big bag of coins from my coworkers parents collection that had a lot of moisture. This was the best nickel a lot were green, this one seemed to have survived. The second photo is a really dulled photo with different lighting, but it has a good luster in hand. It’s funny I have had such a wide range of opinion on it, many said High MS, many said AU many said Cleaned. I have asked my LCS, friends, fellow collectors and even people without knowledge on coins! I think the only option is to get it graded so I can continue the dialogue on the grading of Buffalo nickels, if it came back as MS66-67 I’d love to see the shocked faces, if it came back as AU I’d like to see the other side of shocked faces! (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/wondering-what-grade-this-nickel-is.390437/page-2)

 

Agree that sometimes a coin can show nice luster in hand, and if not professionally photographed, it can be hard to see the luster in a photo. So many things that have to be done with lighting and angles and backgrounds.
The 1935 is a common coin and unless it is gem, etc. I have a 1936 with nice luster,
if I am not lazy and take it out of the 2x2 I will try to get a photo in here.
It's your money, but there are other coins more worthy of grading, to me this
1935 isn't more than a $10 coin in AU. But that's me.

 

I have a few other coins I’m getting graded, so it would get sent with them. Possibly in a large submission through my LCS.