I've been watching TPG Franklin halves a lot lately on eBay and comparing the ones that I own and have noticed something about the grades and was just wondering if anyone else agrees with me. What I've noticed is that the difference between a 64 and a 65 isn't that much. It definitely is obvious side by side that one coin is a higher grade, but I really don't think the gap between the two grades is all that much...compared to the gap between a 65 and a 66. To me, when compared side by side, a 66 looks A LOT better than a 65, so much that if I didn't know the grades I'd probably think they were 2 grades apart. I've never had the opportunity to compare a 66 to a 67 in person so I'm not sure if the jump from a 66 to a 67 is as great as the jump from a 65 to a 66 seems to me. Those are my thoughts, not sure why that just popped into my mind, but I've been thinking about it for a while and was hoping I could get some opinions from the more experienced collectors.
The range of differences between grades can vary greatly because there is a fairly wide range within each grade. And that is not even considering the accuracy of the assigned grade. Example, take a low end 65 and put it beside a high end 66 and you're going to see a pretty big difference. But, take a high end 65 and put it beside a low end 66, and you won't see much difference at all. And if the accuracy of the grade is at all questionable, then that gap can widen, or shrink. This is a very basic concept but it is one that a lot of people fail to even think about. And it's not just with Frankies, but with all coins.
The ANA definition between 65 and 66 is the reason. 66s should have no significant detrimental marks and strike starts to become part of the grade.
