I've just recently got re interested in coins and started looking on ebay at some proof 70 jefferson nickels. Looking at some of the pictures I noticed that even some of these highly graded coins don't have full steps. Perhaps it was the pictures but they seemed pretty clear. Is it possible to have the highest grade proof coin and not have a perfect strike? Thanks, Rut
Any thing is possible when looking at graded coins. Personally I never look at 70s' - always stuck with 69's for my modern stuff when I collected it. Even then I noticed some that did not look up to par in my opinion - so I avoided those.
Let's put it this way, it's not supposed to be possible. But given the lenient grading standards used by the TPGs - yup, it happens.
I wouldn't say the TPGs are lenient, but I'd say they are inconsistent. My personal view is that buying MS 70 or PF 70 at high prices isn't very smart. You can't tell the difference between a 69 and a 70 coin because there IS no difference.
