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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1809586, member: 112&quot;]Hmmm, OK, you made me think. Happy ? <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>As usual when I look at a coin I grade it myself instead of trying to figure out what a TPG might say. And at first glance I thought I saw some very light wear on the tip of the crown and lock of hair directly below it. But that was it. And since that was it I had to look closer.</p><p><br /></p><p>Contact mark wise the coin is remarkably clean. And what few marks the coin does have are quite small. That itself is usually an indicator that the coin is MS. So I had to look a little closer at those spots where I thought there might be very light wear. Now it is pretty common for a lot of folks, including the TPGs, to explain away light wear by saying that it is a weak strike, not wear. But areas of a weak strike can be differentiated from wear by the texture of the area in question. Areas of a weak strike will have a rough texture while areas of wear will have a smooth texture. Neither area will have luster. That is because even light wear breaks the luster, literally wears it away, and because a weakly struck area cannot have luster because the metal never reached the surface of the die to create that luster. Even so, the color of a weakly struck area will be slightly different than the color of an area with light wear. The area with wear will be slightly darker. But with this coin the areas that I initially thought might be light wear are so small that it is hard to tell what the case might be. So I had to back up and look for other clues. That&#039;s when the stars hit me in the face. </p><p><br /></p><p>The stars on the right side of the coin are well defined, with 1 exception, while the stars on the left side are flat with no center detail. This starts with the stars right at the tip of the crown. So it stands to reason that what I thought might be light wear is instead due to a weak strike.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now it took a whole lot longer to type all of this out than it did to see it. But if I didn&#039;t type it all out then what I am about to say would not make sense to most. So I&#039;m going to guess that they graded the coin MS65 RB, and so do I. The luster is somewhat subdued by the toning, and the eye appeal is affected for the same reason. Otherwise I think they might have even graded it higher.</p><p><br /></p><p>So Jason, how&#039;d I do ?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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