Oh thank God, I found a thread about a coin that isn't total dreck, thank you Beefer, this forum has been slowly killing me. Elgins are a pain to grade. They are almost always weakly struck, and yours is no exception. The woman's dress, arms, and baby are all showing incomplete strike. That said, this area of the coin is weak even on premium gem, but not to the level of the weakness on your coin. Your coin looks to have decent luster, but I wouldn't say blazing and probably not gem grade luster. The rim toning is pretty, but shouldn't be star worthy, though I used to own an MS67* that didn't have much more toning than yours. Lastly, your coin has some pretty significant surface problems. The scrapes in the upper reverse field should be very punitive to the grade as commemoratives usually have pretty clean surfaces. I like the coin and think it has nice eye appeal, but everything else is rather below average, my grade is MS63.
I went with MS 65 ....the hits/scrapes on the upper reverse, a few ticks on the obverse, and the small spot to the right of P in Pioneer are what worry me the most but I still think it's nice overall and achieved a gem grade
I'm thinking MS65 and I can certain see it getting a CAC bean. Though, I'm not an expert on the series. Lehigh96 mentions some interesting characteristics; most notably weak strikes being common.
Elgins are notoriously under struck, as Lehigh has already stated. When asked to grade these coin, I always check the reverse first. This example stikes up way better than my '65 so I'm postulating a '66........
No idea, great looking coin but I'm totally out of the loop on it. As far as Elgin goes, here's an Elgin Time Keeper Token!
I'm at 64, due to the typical strike and the cuts in the reverse field at 1:00. I do like the toning, though.
64. Elgins have a generally soft design, sort of like Peace dollars, and marks pop out more than they do on some other issues. There are a few marks on both sides, and they're noticeable, and there are light scuffs on the dress and on Jebediah Springfield's legs and weaponry. Luster and eye-appeal good, strike is typical.
And it's time... Only 3 people voted for the correct grade, and only one had the CAC correct (not sure who that was), Bragging rights go out to @green18 @ldhair and @Anthony Mazza who got the grade. As for the coin, it was the toning that grabbed me. As stated, the Elgins are notoriously weak, and while you can't really even see the baby, I'm ok with it overall.
