Please guess the grade of the 1938-S Jefferson Nickel shown below by voting in the attached poll. Please make your grade determination and cast your vote before scrolling down to read the responses to the thread. As always, comments welcome!
Too many distracting marks and the coin didn't fully strike up. That kept me at 66. Initially I was at 67. But, when I went to buy it, and take a closer look, it lost a point. Still, a nice coin.
I am going with MS65 because of the obverse chatter and the contact mark on the reverse field. If no contact mark I'd have called it an easy MS66
To me, a + grade is the result of a coin that you think is between grades but something held it back to the lower grade. For example, if I was torn between MS67 and MS66 for this coin but ultimately chose MS66 because of the mark on the reverse below the C, then it would stand to reason that the grade should be MS66+. I’m not trying to say I think the coin is an MS66+, I’m just pointing out that in my world, the + grade has real function.
I went 65+ I'm thinking the obverse scratches by the date area are on the slab and not the coin. If they are on the coin then in combination with other contact marks (cheek, under Mont. etc...), I'd say 64+. Curious on this one.
It looks like a 65 to me, maybe a 65+. But this is a Jefferson, so it's probably something ridiculous.
I'm going for MS67+ on this one. Just a few marks left over from striking on the shoulder, which seems almost universal for Jeffersons. Edit: I meant marks on the cheek, not the shoulder. (I've been looking at Lincolns, where the planchet marks are predominately on the shoulder when the metal does not flow entirely up into the voids of the die. So I misspoke.) Nickel is hard, and the raw planchets are usually banged up, so I don't think these small marks that remain from the planchets have much effect on this grade.