Barber Half: Can anyone help me with judging a wear pattern / grading?

First, a confession. I'm so much in love with Barber Halves that I've spent lots of money before really educating myself. Yes it's stupid--you don't have to tell me (but feel free). Anyway now of course I'm interested in upgrading my collection and it's high time I started learning.

Here's an example which has me flummoxed at the moment. There is substantial wear on the reverse of this coin, note particularly the right side of the shield and the wings adjacent. Because of this wear, I'd have said this was a mid-grade EF. But a real expert says it's AU-53. What am I missing please?



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This coin does have a truly enticing obverse imho, and the obverse is where the action is with this type, aesthetically speaking. I even like the mark on Liberty's temple, like a slight scar. Counting from the left, along the topside of the wreath, I always look at how the third and fourth leaves are superimposed. On truly uncirculated examples there is a distinct line separating the two. It's faint but definitely present here.



So I guess another question is: can a stellar obverse compensate for a substandard reverse in the grader's judgment? A coin like this works for me since I don't really care about the reverse on this type. But I don't want to continue overpaying.

A PR66 for comparison:

 

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You must remember that grading is subjective. NGC's standards and PCGS's standards are very different.

With some series of coin, both TPG's grading can be comparable to one another, but with others the grades can differ dramatically. Not sure how consistent or 'accurate' they are when it comes to Barber coinage.

IMHO, that 1900 wouldn't cross to PCGS at grade.

 

I think it's a really nice XF45 coin, maybe that would sell for AU money. Also, I wouldn't use a proof as a comparison to a circulated business strike example.

 

Thanks for the opinions guys. I guess I hate paying for the grade particularly when I disagree with it. I can hear everyone saying "So Don't!" ... but nearly all the coins I see now are slabbed which means you pay for the grade whether you like it or not. If this coin weren't slabbed it would be ideal for me since I care about the obverse more than the reverse. Maybe it is anyway.

 

It has the look of an EF/AU. One thing to keep in mind is that the upper right portion of the shield is an area that is well known for strike deficiency.

 

i would say it is a nice fine to very fine coin.

 

We are obviously not looking at the same coin. Are we?