sba $1 coin collection with verities

Ok, just what I thought Chris. :thumb:

 

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I'm not sure what you're saying there. Are you saying MS 63 is only based on the strike? What about the contact marks, luster and overall eye appeal? I have some NGC 64/65's Jeffs that have terrible strikes. Also, show me a FS that has a terrible strike everywhere but the steps.

 

Chris....I in no way meant to 'ream' you/your comment. I appreciate your 'setting me straight' as to why you brought it up. Like you, I'm sick of seeing these special designations, and especially sick of the pricing of coins with these designations. Using the example I noted, 2 coins of the same grade come off the dies right after each other. One of the coins, one step gets a slight nick in it, negating the designation. The non-designation of the one without the nick pushes the price of that similarily graded coin WITH the designation, up up up (and using Jeffs as an example, I have seen many that, if submitted today, or sent for review, they would NOT receive the FS designation).

Take the example of Jefferson nickels, using PCGS pop reports only (as I don't have access to NGC pop reports). The designation in itself is another story...PCGS uses 5 'full steps' to qualify as a 'full step' coin, and NGC will state 5 OR 6 full steps, with a BUNDLE of extra registry points for 6 step coins. At PCGS, the 1970-D has a mere THREE coins TOTAL graded with the designation of FS (2 in MS64, 1 in MS65), and there are 328 total graded w/o FS. The lone MS65 FS carries a CU guide of $6,000!!! The MS66 without FS carries a CU guide of $200 (there are 172 graded in MS65, and 43 in MS66!). Now, for those that consider a coin with a designation to be better struck, are you willing to spend $6,000 for a coin that is a point lower than one without FS (not to mention, keeping $5,800 in your pocket by purchasing the non-FS coin). If you want a coin with a better strike, which is it going to be, the MS65 or MS66??? I BELIEVE an MS66 is better struck, as we ARE talking about clad coinage, than an MS65, or am I wrong (rhetorical question)? Isn't that what seperates grades...strike (yes, overall condition and toning come into play, but it's not like a '70-D Jefferson came out of a burlap bag that's been in a Fed bank vault for 50 years, susceptible to bag marks, like Morgan dollars, not to mention the natural toning of a silver coin, as opposed to clad coinage, which is less likely to tone...yes, they DO tone, but not like silver coins)? We also have the luxury of pulling out top pops from MINT SETS, and I would be willing to say 3/4 (if not more) of all modern pop tops are from mint sets (sure, an occasional coin from a roll can pop up, but I think I have made my point). Hence, better strike, higher grade. I can think of MANY CLASSIC coins to spend that extra $5,800 on.


The same goes for Franklin halves. Full Bell Lines??? The 2 best grading services use different criteria when it comes to designating these, where PCGS uses the bottom bell lines, but NGC uses both upper and lower bell lines. If you really want to give a Franklin a designation, based upon the STRIKE, I'd consider the 'Pass and Stow' verbage on the bell, and not the lines, to determine STRIKE quality. On some Frankies, that verbage is clear, on some, it's obliterated entirely.

Should we start finding designations on classic coins? Should we begin to look for a slight difference in the eagle's 'talons' on, say, a 1913 $10 Indian gold piece??? Do that, and you'd have a coin, that if it WERE to be designated as such, man, the premium would be astronomical over the non designated coin....just like in the case of the '70-D Jeff (with the $5,800 left over from bypassing the 65FS and getting the MS66 non FS, you could put 4 nice $10 MS Indians into your collection...in the long run, what's the better play??...another rhetorical question). Anyone paying $6,000 for a modern Jeff, just because of steps, where there is a higher graded NON FS coin (ok, that is guide price, and we know it would sell for less....or would it???) is either certifiable, has WAY too much money, or has too much money AND is playing the registry game. Thats all these designations are for, IMO...registry points/registry players. I have clad MS67FB Roosies, which are top pops in the FB category, but also MS68's, without FB...the MS68 is a coin I'd rather have any day, and they come cheaper than the MS67 with FB's...funny thing is, the lower grade FB coin (higher priced) has the same number of points as the higher grade, non FB coin, which costs less (in PCGS's registry......NGC's logic with their registry points is just nuts, IMO).

I don't mean to stray from the OP's completing the SBA set...completing a set is a great feeling!

edited to add...if you really want a 'designated' high grade coin, you better be at the mint's press, immediately following a die change, as thats really the only way to assure yourself if the best strike...right off a fresh set of dies, and the first coin out...which brings another discussion...First Strikes....there can only be ONE 'first strike' from a set of dies.......but that discussion is for another day.

 

haha ya i know what ur saying it is kind of a joke all the small meaningless things that are considered big deals in grading and even the value of a coin