I grade this quarter, first year of issue of the Draped Bust type, at G4. Am I being too optimistic/conservative ? Note the minor edge tap at 12:00 on the reverse.
Opened a filing cabinet to find some Tax papers and found my 1976 ANA grading guide book. The reverse looks to have claims to VG with all that shield detail and the presence of lettering on the ribbon but the Obverse may hold her back to the good level. There is a lengthy note about strike issues with this coin type so i don't know what role that might play in a final grade. James
Of the two die marriages for this year, yours is B-1, at R-3 the more common of the two. Overall, despite the obverse pin scratches, a pleasant coin that has an attractive patina. The obverse is a solid G-06. The rim nick on the reverse doesn't hurt it. However, while the eagle, the motto and the upper part of the legends are nice and strong, the rim wear and legend wear on the lower part of the reverse make it not better than G-04. I believe convention says that the obverse grade decides the overall grade of the coin except where the reverse is worse than the obverse. So, if this coin's obverse is G-06 but the reverse is G-04, then the coin is G-04. Tompkins says the B-1 is always well-struck on both obverse and reverse so we have no reason to interpret the rim to legend loss of detail on the lower half of the coin as anything but wear.
