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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;physics-fan3.14, post: 2043140, member: 19165&quot;]Good guesses everyone! I agree, the first sets of pictures don&#039;t really do a good job at helping you evaluate the coin - but that&#039;s Heritage for you. You have to understand what their pictures are telling you, and be able to extrapolate what the coin will look like in hand. </p><p><br /></p><p>Believe it or not, both of these are graded the same. They are both NGC MS-64PL - the only difference being, the second one has a CAC sticker. </p><p><br /></p><p>These both sold in the recent Houston Money Show Heritage auction, and they were sequential lots. Again, believe it or not, they sold for exactly the same amount. The price was a bit strong (certainly far more than your typical MS-64), but that is because of the unusual PL surfaces. When I was bidding, I honestly expected the CAC&#039;d coin to sell for more (despite my opinion that the first coin was the superior one). </p><p><br /></p><p>As shown by my set of pictures, I bought the first one. There are four reasons why: First, the strike is stronger (as many of you pointed out). Second, I like the color better (the first one has a bit deeper gold color, the second appears paler. This is more obvious in the other pictures on the Heritage website). Third, the mirrors are stronger on the first one (and, when buying a PL coin, that is very important). And finally, yes, the second one appears to have fewer marks on it overall, but the second also has a very unpleasant scuffiness at the bottom of the reverse that I didn&#039;t like. </p><p><br /></p><p>I believe both of them are accurately graded as 64 (in hand, the one I bought is definitely a solid 64). But, the advantages of the non-CAC coin pushed me in its direction (including my anticipated lower price, which didn&#039;t actually happen). This is why learning to make decisions for yourself, and grade the coin for yourself, are so important - don&#039;t just rely on the CAC sticker![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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