This is where people who view the coin in hand will have an advantage. Heritage has auction lot viewing in person at all of their auctions - you can see the coin before you bid on it if you go to the auction in person. Or, you can have a trusted dealer view it for you. I agree that it isn't the best setup, especially for the seller, but that's how it works.
And the result is..... PCGS MS-64 CAC. We had 47 guesses with an average of 62.5..... off by 1.5 points (oddly enough, same as the first time). We had a really wide range this time, with a lot of people guessing AU.
2 for 2, I guess. The strike weakness on the reverse shouldn't be mistaken for wear. I was looking at those spots closely, and didn't see any of the color change you'd see on an AU coin. There were also none of the funny luster patches in the fields that come with light wear. Go pull up some AU58 Barber halves on Heritage and look not only at the weakly struck areas, but the upper wing edges and wing tips.
I wonder what would happen to the average if you threw out 1 of the high and 1 of the lows (like they do/did for the Olympics)?
You can claim "weak strike" but this 100+ year coin lightly circulated, it's not a true MS. It's doubtful it was pulled the first day it saw circulation and has been sitting in a temperature and humidity controlled environment for 100+ years. I don't disagree with the grade, I am just saying technically it's not a mint state coin. It didn't come out of the mint looking like this. It looked much better. It's only a photo but the full luster is not evident of a mint state coin. It also shows slight traces of wear.
If it has wear, it has to grade AU and cannot grade 64. Therefore you cannot agree with its grade. So, does it have wear and thus grade AU, or are you mistaken and it should grade 64? I'm really confused by your analysis.