What's the best TPG to submit too? Specifically, if it's full steps and even more specifically if it's six full steps? I didn't know if one was deemed more respectable for this designation.
Your question is much more difficult to answer than you realize. NGC is much more stringent with the FS designation than PCGS. However, PCGS is much more conservative with numerical grade and as a result there is a significant difference in price in the top pop grades between NGC and PCGS. I will assume that the coin you are going to submit is not a top pop coin. If this is the case then the decision comes down to how confident you are about the steps. If you are absolutely sure the steps are full, use NGC, otherwise send to PCGS. If the coin has a chance a top pop, I would need to see photos of the coin in order to give you the proper advice.
Thanks for that response Lehigh. I'll try to post some photos when I get home later. I would like your opinion about the coin, as I think it might very well be a top pop, but I could be wrong.
Lehigh- Thanks for the valuable information. I'll file it away for future use, but it seems I jumped the gun on this one. I had some nickels(1960-64) in cello that I thought had come from mint sets. When I pulled the first one out in order to photograph it for this thread it became immediately apparent that it was from a proof set. I'm sure full steps, even six of them, on a proof coin are very common.
I only own two Proof Jefferson Nickels. The lighting trick works with both however. One of my favorite coins in my collection.
Those photos are taken with a Canon Powershot SD880 IS (10 megapixel) camera, but I have since upgraded to a Nikon D90 DSLR. The top photo was taken with normal lighting and the bottom photo was taken using diffused lighting. Please read this thread for more information on diffused lighting. http://www.cointalk.com/t56246/
