What do you guys think this beauty will grade out at? I apologize for the bad pictures. The coin is inside a flip and the pictures were off the cuff.
I'm wondering about the obverse splotches, and I'm also wondering if that's wear I see at the nose and the ear. I'm not confident it's MS based on this obverse photo. I have a solid track record of guessing wrong on gold, though.
That is a well struck coin. My favorite coins are strikes like this. I am with @-jeffB though and do believe I see the slightest touch of wear on her nose and hair above the ear. And I mean just the slightest touch of wear... Either way, this is a beautiful coin.
I am concerned about the shiny area on the left side of the obverse. It is in front of the face of Ms. liberty and runs between the first and sixth stars. It looks like it has been polished or smoothed. If that is true, the coin will not get a straight grade. That sort of mixture of brightness and mint frost is not natural.
Looking at the chatter on the face and obverse fields i would say about an MS61-62 I would have probably gone 63-64 but that one dink on the reverse just NW of the beak, I think is gonna bring it down
comparison.... Mine is only AU58 but most that have looked at it think it would regrade considerably higher.... Gold is tough to grade i see so much difference in grades between the different grading companies... this one being old anacs I'm pretty damn sure would grade higher in pcgs/ngc...
Here is the piece in my collection. NGC called it an MS-62, but I am more in the AU-58 camp. It's called "market grading."
Thanks for all your opinions! I, too am on the bubble between low MS and high AU. Gold is always difficult to grade. I will be sending it out this week and will update the thread with the results!
Good luck. I think any grade from AU-Details to MS 62 is a possibility. Are you going to send it to NGC or PCGS?
From the pictures provided, my first guess is 62. Better pictures might or might not cause me to change my mind.