Not necessarily strange. The PL designation refers to the reflectivity of the surface of the coin. In this instance, the surface must be amazing, since (I believe) PCGS is pretty stingy in giving out PL's, especially on circulated coins. Nice find, post a picture of the piece if you can.
yes i knew what pl was but other then that coin ive never seen the pl designation on anything below ms-62
Is it just me, or does NGC give out MS70's like candy? The MS70 gold buffalo from them is only about $50 more than 69 on ebay. The PCGS one is about $700-800 more. Also, there are people selling bulk lots of NGC MS70 buffalos. Speaking of NGC, here's what I'd like to see from them: A slab with a large cutout, and then the insert that they use in the multi-coin holders. That would be a nice-looking slab.
I have a 1994 P 5C graded by NGC MS 69 SPECIMEN. They only graded these like this for a short period then changed to SP instead of MS since these are the special Matte finished nickels only sold in the Jefferson Coin and Currency Set. I sniped on ebay 5 years ago a for $75 and I recieved an email from one of the loosers or watchers saying I was crazy for paying so much and to go to NGC's Price guide that they don't even price 'SPECIMEN' coins. I replyed to check out the 1994P SP69 price and the history of the MS69 Specimen grade.
I disagree. *If* there are standards by which coins are graded (don't get me started), then it *should* be entirely possible that a given coin could achieve that standard. Otherwise it is also not possible for a coin to achieve a MS-69, 68 or any other grade. (This is aside from the fact that there's no *universal standard* -which is another issue.) If a coin qualifies for an AU-55 grade, why shouldn't it be given that grade? Likewise, if a coin qualifies for a MS-70 grade, why should it not be given a MS-70 grade? Note: I'm not a firm believer in the grading systems or TPGs, and I'm the black and white type. Unfortunately, grading is not a black and white thing (far from it). A grade (be it from an individual or a TPG company) is an opinion, and that opinion isn't absolute (far from it). I'm just saying that there's no reason that a coin shouldn't be given a certain grade if it meets the qualifications for such grade (be it AU-55, MS-69, or MS-70).
samjimmy - Perhaps what Cloudsweeper99 is trying to say is simply that MS70 is supposed to denote a perfect coin, with absolutely no blemishes or defects whatsoever, and perfection is simply an unobtainable goal. I could be wrong, but I suspect that 100% of our religious membership and the overwhelming majority of our non-religious membership would all agree on the principle that man and his products are never "perfect".
I was going to throw in a bit about "the perfect coin" as I had seen some people (maybe it was you) refer to that when speaking of MS-70. I don't (honestly) know what the MS-70 standard is exactly (the exact wording for the each coin that gets it), but whatever it is, if the coin meets the standard, then it should get it. Since there's (supposedly) more to grading than just noting wear, blemishes, and defects (somewhat black and white realm), opinions about luster and eye-appeal clearly fall into the "entirely subjective" realm. Thus a MS-69 could be a MS-70 and vice-versa depending on who's holding the loupe. In other words, I find it completely understandable how some people could not believe in the MS-70 grade, while others do. I don't feel either is wrong (even the TGP grader, heh). I'm not a big fan of any of this garbage, however I do realize that there are (can be) at least rough steps (grading) for coins. Unless the difference is $5, I wouldn't buy a MS-70 over a MS-69. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as "the perfect coin" but at the same time, if a MS-70 is unobtainable, then the highest grade a coin could get would be a MS-69, and one could argue that that is unobtainable (and so on). I guess I'm more of a "bring back the F, XF, AU, etc. days" type, heh. While I understand the want/need for more steps inbetween XF and AU (thus all the numbers), I just can't take the high dollar amount jumps between 1 point grades. If there is such a thing as MS-70, it isn't worth $3,000 more than a MS-69.
