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Message:: [QUOTE="RittenhouseCU, post: 3300835, member: 100546"]All of those pieces are fairly lustrous, nice coins for the period.  Pre-1840 coinage will not look like an 80-S Morgan.  The die prep was far different, leading to a much different look and luster.  Personally, I don't like the Heritage "beauty" shots on most early US silver.  They don't get the lighting right.  PCGS does a far better job. As to the "grade", the first two are what we called sliders back in the day.  They are technically very high-end AU's that will sell for UNC money. They were probably slabbed in the 2000 - 2008 run-up when the "grading" was very loose due to the hot market.  The last piece, 1812-102 is UNC.  It's all there for a really nice pre-1820 CBH.  There may be a bit of friction on the highest points, but I bet under a glass there's remains of luster.  That, plus the 2/1, die state, and color is why it sold for almost 11K.  I bet it looked awesome in-hand. BTW, I put grading in quotes because that IS NOT what the TPG's do.  They do not grade coins, they "worth" them. Thus, the "grade" on the holder is not an opinion of the coin's state of preservation, but rather an appraisal of what they think the coin is worth in the marketplace.[/QUOTE]