The Official CoinTalk Grading Experiment 23

It's Half Dollar Weekend! I'll be posting 4 different series of halves today, for your grading pleasure. Grades will be revealed Monday evening.

How good is CoinTalk compared to the TPGs? Let's find out! Over the next several months, I'll be posting a continuous stream of Guess the Grade threads. I will be using photos from the Heritage auction archives (please do not cheat!).

All you have to do is guess the grade! I will be attaching a poll to each thread. Please select the grade that you think best represents the coin (to avoid bias, please select your grade before viewing the rest of the thread).

Also please post your opinions about the coin, and it would be most educational if you could explain why you chose the grade you did.

Around Christmas, I will tally up the results and see how we did. This thread is an offshoot of a recent thread where I compared CT grading to the TPG, seen here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/how-good-is-cointalk-at-grading.343417/

We're going to cover a wide range of material, and some of it may be out of your wheelhouse. However, if you are a confident grader, you should be able to accurately grade almost any coin.

 

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The two photos definitely show the coin in different ways.

With the price jump from 64 to 65 I am calling this a high end 64. Probably CAC. My personal grade would be 64+

 

Flat strike but beautiful fields. I’m at 65

 

Original and nice. I think easily a 65.

 

I'm at 65.

 

65

 

66

 

This. In this and #21 (the seated half), I was feeling a lower grade until I looked at the slab shot. This is a 66. Strike is above average for 1920, luster is great, eye appeal great. Fields are scuff free, sun has no ticks. There are minor ticks on the eagle but the first set of pictures make them look worse than they really are.

 

MS-65

 

That coin is tremendous. I wanna say MS67 but I don't even think there are any so I will say MS66, but very good shot at + grade.

 

67...? Wow. I am at 64 or maybe 65, but no higher.

Luster: can’t tell from those pictures
Strike: not so great, poor details on both obv (Liberty’s body) and rev (eagle’s leg)
and
Eye-appeal is only average too (no toning).

So yes, it’s a very nice coin, but it shouldn’t go higher than 65, because luster/strike/eye-appeal aren’t good enough.

 

This coin is a very strong 66 in my opinion

 

65 ...it looks at least gem from the photos and I wouldn't be surprised with a 66

 

Grade reveal Monday evening. Get your guesses in now!

 

64 - not the strongest strike (I know, I know), chatter on the reverse wing, and not much eye appeal.

 

Ms66

 

With 30 guesses, Cointalk called this a 64.6.

Unfortunately, PCGS and CAC called this a 66. This coin is simply stunning, and I'm not sure why CT guessed so low on this one. For perspective, this coin was sold in the famous Duckor collection, and earned almost $29k.

Let's look at this coin in detail:

Strike - first, this coin is absolutely hammered. 1920 is not known for being a well struck date. However, the lines on her dress are nearly full, and this coin would qualify for a "Full Thumb" designation (the strike designation sought after by many Walker collectors). It is uncommon to find coins with full separation of the thumb from the hand, but this coin has it. Yes, there is slight flatness in areas, but this has a well above average strike.

Luster - booming luster leaps off the fields of this coin, even in Heritage's photos. This coin appears to shine!

Eye Appeal - there is a subtle patina with hints of gold playing around the edges. This has the look of an original coin, with good original skin. The eye appeal of this coin is fantastic.

Contact Marks - There appears to be some planchet roughness on the high points, and @Lehigh96 and I have discussed this at length in other threads. The TPGs are generally forgiving of this. There is some light planchet roughness on her thigh, and a trace on the eagle's leg. However, actual contact marks are nearly non-existent. You can find a couple in the fields, and a couple buried in the eagle's wings... but there is a surprising lack of contact marks on this coin.

All of this together points to a superb coin. It easily takes its reign at the top of the mountain, with a 66 grade.

Don't be afraid to award a coin a high grade if it deserves it!

 

I wanted to address this comment specifically. I'm generally opposed to this line of thinking - award the coin the grade it deserves, and let the price fall where it may. I know the TPGs sometimes seem to do this, probably for insurance reasons, but I'm not a fan of the practice. If you think the coin is a 65, why not grade it 65? In this case, you were still low!

 

Someone give that bean a ride home, he’s drunk.