A $10K SMS Coin--Here is something you don't see everyday

HUH! I have considerable knowledge and experience with high grade Jeffersons, but I wouldn't call myself an expert. I absolutely think the coin is graded correctly, but that determination is also made solely from the photos. I have never seen one of these in hand, and most likely never will. I agree about the 10-20X original size point. Take the photo I posted and shrink it down to the size of a nickel and the flaws vanish.



If PCGS gave this coin an MS68, you can almost guarantee that NGC would give it an MS68. PCGS, IMO, is over a half a grade tougher when it comes to Jefferson Nickels, and the population reports of just about every date/mm support that theory.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Bottom line for me is this is the same collecting story of my life. Back a decade or so when I began wanting these high grade SMS coins they where in the Hundreds of dollars and I couldn't afford them. Now they are in the Thousands and I still can't touch them. The nickels seem to be the leaders.

Rick L.

 

SMS 1964 1000 sets or less know

WoW!!! That nickel is one of the holy grail of SMS set collector.
I just wonder were the Kennedy is and what it graded. I just wish I had the money to add a 1964 SMS Kennedy to my 1965-1967 SMS Cameo Kennedy collection

 

Beautiful and rare coin to be sure, but judging by the pics, if that wasn't an sms coin, would it really grade full steps?

 

Right-o. So I want to learn something here...

Are there discrete diagnostics which conclusively prove a given coin is an SMS coin ?

I expect them to be, in general, higher quality with sharper strikes. But that alone is not a discrete diagnostic.

I'm talking about a "die variety" type of thing... i.e. "The serif at the bottom of the left leg of "M" in AMERICA is missing" or something like that.

 

I imagine there probably is...but I don't know for sure. But, they should be expected to have sharper and full strikes I would think. I'm a little surprised that this coin has the FS designation because I would expect all SMS nickels to be FS. But, maybe I'm wrong (as I don't have any of SMS from the 1960s).