I had these sent for certification, would like as many opinions as possible- 1964 SMS

Hey everyone, my grandfather was an avid coin collector and I learned from him by watching and listening ever since I was about 10 and I'm now 27. He left me his collection and i just wanted everyone's opinion on the coins I'm going to post. These particular coins were the only ones that he kept locked up in a safe so I've made it a priority to find out why. I sent them to a rare coin dealer that he knew and trusted and his words were that he felt very strongly there true sms coins so I had them sent to PCGS a few days ago but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get all the opinions I could. Also, my phone doesn't have enough zoom to get a good picture of the dangling 4 on the kennedy but it has it and the second picture is showing the die scratch from the middle serif of the "f" over to the "A" in America. thats also the same quarter in both pics, I just took it from a different angle and lighting to make the polish lines show up. I know you can't see the die markers in most of the pictures but I have checked them extensively under 10x magnification and they all have the correct markers I just hope the graders at PCGS come to the same conclusion lol. I apologize for the long post and I greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts and opinions.

 

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Your pictures are no where good enough to tell anything imo. That being said as far as we know all 1964 SMS coins came from an ex mint directors estate and none originated from anywhere else. So the odds that you have not just one coin but an entire set of 64' SMS coins is extremely low and sadly it's more likely that you don't have any at all. The mint absolutely abused dies minting 1964 dated coinage which was minted for two years after 1964 and all denominations are very common with extreme die polishing but are still not SMS coins. I guess the only thing to do at this point is see what PCGS says about them and wish you the best of luck.

 

I think I read that a Lester Merkin bought most of them from her estate and then when he passed away they went to stacks auction but I can't remember where I read it.. I also read that the dangling 4 a few die scratches on the reverse is how to determine if it's an sms or not because those are diagnostic markers limited only to true sms and the Kennedy my grandfather had has all of them so I kinda just went from there.

 

@Lehigh96 is probably the one to ask about the nickel

 

We do have a member here that is very familiar with them, I can't recall his user name but this is his website https://www.vdbcoins.com/index.php/1964-sms which also has lots of info on the coins. Hopefully you luck out as the Kennedy certainly has the die scratch from F-A

 

You might be on to something, at least in regards to the Half dollar. I don't know if other non-SMS halves also has the F-A die scratch, but the one owned and shown by VDBCoins in the #2 ranked PCGS Registry set shows this diagnostic very prominently.. It sold at Sept. 2016 Heritage Auction for $47,000. Prior to that it sold an a July 2008 Heritage Auction for a fraction over $6000.

Here is photo showing that coin's F-A diagnostic. It is identical to the OP coin. Click on the photo for a closer view.

 

The die scratches below the right wing is also a match.

 

From how I understand it, if the half has the die scratches I took the pics of on the reverse and also has the raised teardrop under the crosslet of the 4 it should be classified as a 1964 sms half with 100% certainty right? Or am I completely wrong?

 

@jd26 I know you stated you had trouble getting a close up of the droplet on the four but do you have any pictures showing it at all even from a distance?

 

My belief is that since those are the known diagnostics that the TPG's likely have noted in their own systems that if a coin shows up featuring those diagnostics exactly than yes it probably should be enough to make a determination. It would be pretty exciting to have another one surface and I hope yours is in fact one.

 

I think I tried taking a picture of it give me a few minutes to find it in my photo album on my phone and I'll post it as soon as I find it.

 

That's the best picture I was able to take with what I have.. I know it's hard to make it out but I'm telling you if i could let you look at it my a 10x loupe it's plain as day. And I've noticed that the size of the teardrop seems to vary in size on each coin I've seen on PCGS and the other websites that have them listed.

 

Sorry, I don't know why it double posted lol. I just wanted to point out a few things I just noticed.. if you look between the 9 and the 6 right above the rim, basically touching the rim, it looks like a really small 2.. you can see it on my pic and also on the pic of the sms that heritage has on there site. And if you look at the reverse side, the two stars below the "R" have a polish line linking them together, you can also see it on the heritage coin. There's another circular scratch between the "M" and the star on the reverse seen on both my coin and heritages coin.. to me that seems like more than enough matching markers to safely say that it's an sms but I don't want to get my hopes up lol

 

Send it to me.......I'll photog it for you.


Best of luck with the submission, JD............

 

Lol, thanks green.. knowing the luck that I usually have.. ima need a lot of it.

 

When you send them in for grading, do you have to specifically tell them
that you want it authenticated for this special deal? Or otherwise they will just grade the coins and send them back?

 

What?