Au58 I'm not very good at gold, but it sure looks like this baby has wear on the high points. One thing I would like to know about DGS is this. They say that they use Photograde as their Grading Guide....what grading sys. did they use for coins such as this...MS grades?? Since Photograde only covers Cir. grades I would say that they will be hard put to stay with Photograde. Speedy
You compromised the results when you mentioned DGS. Some people have strong opinions about the service which will probably affect their guesses. I think it's a great looking coin. I'm not particularly good at MS grading but I would say 65.
I think that's an accurate grade. For some reason, it's really hard to breakthrough on these $2.5 Libs. It's like there's a ceiling at MS62 for me. If I use the same standards I use on $10 Libs, I could have a $2.5 coin that I think should be an easy 3 and maybe a 4, but it winds up a 2. (Yes, I know there's differences, but still...)
Grading mint state coins comes from years of experience buying and selling high grade coinage. There's really no way to describe the process in a book and it's truly an art form. -J
Appreciate that answer as I had the same question a while back. But let me ask you bit more pointed question John - when you were gaining this experience, even you had to start someplace. What set of grading standards did you learn to use ?
I'm no super-pro, but I have seen enough quarter eagles that I would have to disagree with the wear you are seeing. I would have to ask where is the wear...??? I know what the high points are, but please expound...
Sorry - mixing up my posts here The high points are tip of the crown, above the eye and hair above the ear - eagle's neck and right talon. But on this coin there appears to be light rub in the fields, the chin and hair above the ear. On the rev notably the eagle's beak, wingtip and fields.
So far, the 2 DGS coins I have seen posted here have been encouraging, fair and accurate. Now lets see some copper !!!
Photograde on circs. The school of hard knocks on mint state. I've been going to coin shows since I was 5 years old. The standards have definitely changed on coins over the years. For example, up until the grading services rarely graded anything higher than MS65, or "gem BU". It was just not done. I even recall when CDN added MS63 to the pricing sheets. So, over the years, we've all adapted to the modification and expectation of various grades and it's and evolutionary process. To learn it, one really needs to look at a lot of coins. An auction lot viewing (in person) is a great place to start.
Thanks for the candid answer. I never have been a fan of Photograde myself, but I gotta say, IMO, the way you learned MS grading is probably the best. There is nothing better than looking at coins, and coins, and coins and more coins.
I am surprised, twice now. That's a strong 62, stacking friction, wear, whatever. Compare it to NGC or PCGS 62s and tell me what you find.