1909-S VDB grade?

Wow, sorry this turned into such a political nightmare of a thread. Anyway, I made the purchase of the 09-S VDB. I paid just about a grand for it. I took some more pictures in different lighting to see if it changes or helps anyone's opinion of the coin. The first 4 pictures most represent what the coin looks like in hand. As always, I really value your opinions on this. If you need anymore pics, let me know. Thank you.

 

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You planning on slabbing it or keeping it as is?

 

I'd like to slab it, unless enough people tell me it wouldn't be worth it to. ;-)

 

I would consider slabbing a "must," simply because like it or not this is an "investment" coin and prudence dictates that an investment's liquidity be maximized. There are plenty of collectors whose skills are up to purchasing one of these raw, but the authentication of a slab changes the math from "plenty" to "everybody." Get it into a slab. Don't even look back.

I remain reasonably confident in the authenticity of the coin. MM position is OK for #4. The stroke of the MM seems a bit narrow, and there is a known "shallow" quality in the upper vee of the N in ONE for this issue which are not present on this coin, but both can be appropriate for an early die state as evidenced by examples to be found in the Heritage archives. My previous opinion of High AU Details stands.

 

I'll give you a little advice. On this QC question, just as on the AT and NT questions, we never really want to rack our little brains too hard on those questions. Basically, what we're looking for is something that hasn't toned in any funky environment.

 

I knew there was something I liked about you.

 

I would love for it to grade MS, but more importantly is to not grade details. ;-) AU-58 would be good also. I am looking into submitting it to PCGS. I'll keep you all updated on what it returns as.