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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 26377646, member: 15309&quot;]Over a decade ago, Doug and I were having one of our typical Cointalk disagreements; he was claiming that a Jefferson I had posted was AU while I thought it was uncirculated.&nbsp; During the discussion, I made the comment that my experience in dealing with circulated Jefferson Nickels was very limited.&nbsp; I was a registry collector who only ever saw coins that graded MS65 or higher, and spent virtually no time dealing with rolls or circulated albums where you would actually find sliders.&nbsp; I think most Jefferson Nickel collectors have limited experience with circulated Jeffs unless they engage in CRHing. </p><p><br /></p><p>So how do you tell the difference between and AU Jefferson and a Mint state Jefferson?&nbsp; Hopefully the information in this thread will help.&nbsp; We should start by looking at a circulated Jefferson that clearly shows wear.&nbsp; Below is an XF 1945-P war nickel that provides great contrast between the wear and protected areas.&nbsp; The obverse wear is strong on the shoulder &amp; collar, jawline, cheekbone, eyebrow, and throughout the hair.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/CPAi8Hl.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse wear is more limited to the columns of the portico and the pediment above.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/uRKu5XI.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This gives a very good idea of where to look for wear on an AU coin where it is much harder to discern.&nbsp; Now lets look at a 1978-D that would probably grade AU53-55.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/infevvb.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>At first glance, it appears to be uncirculated.&nbsp; Under closer inspection, there does seem to be some wear, but couldn&#039;t that also be from a weak strike.&nbsp; The answer is yes, the high points that experience wear also suffer from weak strike that can mimic wear.&nbsp; What we need to do now, is rotate (tilt) the coin under a lamp to see if the luster is broken.&nbsp; Now I can&#039;t post a video of the effect, but this next photo of the tilted obverse shows the wear quite clearly on the expected places.&nbsp; Please note the darkness of the wear that appears on the shoulder and the eyebrow.&nbsp; A softly struck mint state coin will not have these dark areas. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/xIQmWa8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse shows a similar effect that mimics weak strike.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/StfU98W.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>When tilted however, the dark areas and broken luster emerge.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/MZBzNqG.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now that we know what to look for, we can use these skills to determine whether we have a slider or an uncirculated coin.&nbsp; This 1942-P war nickel should serve as a great example.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/tYPKWPZ.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/M8Pz8qs.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I didn&#039;t take a tilted photos of this coin, and based solely on the reverse, I would say the coin is uncirculated.&nbsp; But if you look closely at the obverse, the two trouble spots (eyebrow &amp; shoulder) show darkness that requires additional inspection with rotation under a lamp.&nbsp; When the NGC graders performed such an inspection, they found that the luster was broken and graded the coin AU58.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/zuaQve7.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>While I considered providing photographic proof of the wear on that coin, I thought it important to point out that discerning a slider from a mint state coin typically requires and &quot;in hand&quot; inspection.&nbsp; But now we know where to look, and how to look.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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