I'll say MS-65 based on the great details due to the strong strike. But nickels, especially Buffalo, I am not good at.
Reveal: I paid up for this coin on Heritage. It was a PCGS MS62 OGH.... now it's on it's way back to me with a coveted gold CAC!
Paying double retail for a 62. That's what it required. But I knew what I saw. The luster is very good. That was the only thing I couldn't see in the Heritage pics. But color, lack of marks, and hammered strike was enough for me to grade this coin at least MS64, and possibly as high as 65. CAC agreed.
62 would be more baggy. The reverse is a solid 65, the obv is less but perhaps it was not a superior strike. If the obv is 63 then net 64. I say that about the strike because of the flatter details on the feathers and hair.
Everybody wins this guess the grade. Holder says 62, but with a gold sticker, those who guessed higher are also correct!
Yea, they straight up screwed the pooch on that one. Even by the earlier standards i cant see that graded lower than 63. All the grade limiting stuff was on the reverse. Who cares about that. The obverse is the money shot (also supposed to account for 60% of grade) Very nice pickup, and ill bet that feels good to score like that. This coin makes a pretty good jump in the MS grades, i be asking 64+/65 $$$ if it was me. (Depending on what the total investment cost)
Also, I just want to push my agenda here for a second. These days, CAC will only gold sticker a coin that is 2 full grades better than the holder. I don't care what their written standards are. Write it down and take it to the bank.
Did you ask for feedback on this one? I know I would have. JA would let you know about where he would grade it.
I didn't. But I did ask him to please provide an explanation for coins that didn't CAC. I had one of 3 fail to pass. Looking forward to what he said when the order gets back to me.
I agree with you on this. I spoke to JA about that last year and he told me that essentially a coin has to be 2 grades under graded for it to get a gold sticker. He told me that if it's in a 63 holder it has to be at least a 64.9 to get a gold. He also added that a coin in a 63 could receive a green, crack it out, upgrade to a 64 and send it back in and still get a green. So green does not mean it won't upgrade, it still can green at the next grade level up.