Stacks said they are the same grade; PCGS says they are all different. You say?

So, in 1991, I bid-on and won a set of 1939 PDS Arkansas commemorative half dollars in a Stack's auction. They were raw, and Stack's graded them all the same. Last year, I sent them to PCGS for grading, and they came back in body bags labeled PVC residue. I couldn't see any residue nor could @Cascade, so we guessed that PCGS used a "sniffer" on them.

They were given an acetone bath and sent back to PCGS. This time they came back in slabs, but with different grades. Based on the photos, what grade would you give?

These coins are a classic example of low mintage (2100) not always equating to high value.

Cal

P mint:





D mint:





S mint:

 

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Boy, they all look around 64 to me.

 

Yep, 63/64 IMO.

 

The S mint might grade a little lower?

 

I say 63 to64

 

I'm in there with the 63/64 crowd, with the one proviso that the P mint grade one point higher than the other two.

 

64, 63, 63

 

The P's focal areas are just much nicer looking to my eye than the S or D so for that reason I think P>D=S but no experience to guess grades.

 

1991's grades vs today are totally different.

 

65, 64, 63

 

P-65...the most appealing of the set with few marks
D-64...has a few hits/scratches on the obverse in somr what focal areas
S-64...a few dark spots on the obverse and reverse

 

grades evolve. were they even using the 70 point system then?
If not then they were all either UNC or BU and be done with it.
Noticeable scratch on one would knock down at least one grade.

 

65...63...64

 

Going against the flow here: 63, 64, 65.
Steve

 

65,63,64...agree with coinsareus10

 

1st Coin: 64

2nd Coin:63

3rd Coin: 63+

 

Here are the grades from Stacks and PCGS. Stacks graded them each aChBU. That should translate to MS62. When I looked at the coins before sending them to PCGS, I thought they were MS63-MS64, like most of you. The PCGS grades can be seen in pics below. The D-mint was as expected; P-mint a pleasant surprise; S-mint was a shocker.

Cal

 

Had the 65 and 63 right, not seeing the cleaning though

 

Looking back at the 39-S, I can see what PCGS is saying. The luster looks messes with. The spots probably came because of the cleaning. Still a nice coin.