GTG 1946 Jefferson Nickel

Please guess the assigned grade of this 1946 Jefferson Nickel and vote in the attached poll. Thank you!



As always, comments welcome!

 

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Just for the sake of clarification, the long reverse mark is indeed on the holder, correct?

 

Yes

 

Wheres the AU58 button?

 

A lot of cheek chatter and jacket chatter by the rim.
2 gouges in the steps. I'm not saying they didn't grade it 65 or 66, but I am lower.

 

66 ...looks to have a few too many marks for a 67

 

If Jeffersons were not hard enough for me to GTG make it a late die state with planchet chatter that didn't clean up when struck....

 

I would say 66.

 

I am guessing that it is probably graded 66.

But I wouldn't personally call it anything higher than 65.

 

65+

I believe it to be 65 all day. I think the eye appeal and luster gave it a plus.

 

I'm at '66........

 

I said 66. Glad to see I am in good company! This is a great test for novices such as myself.

 

I voted for 65.

 

Take a bow @SchwaVB57, you are the only one to get this one.

 

It appears that NGC overgraded it. I hope you paid 65 or 66 money for it, but regardless of the grade, a very beautiful piece.

 

This is exactly right, there are remnant planchet flaws on Jefferson's jaw, his coat, and on the center of Monticello on the reverse. The roughness in the fields is the result of die wear which gives the coin the superior luster than undoubtedly drove NGC to grade the coin MS67. I have no doubt that we can find many MS66 1946 Jeffs with similar surfaces as this coin, but will they have the same luster and eye appeal?

The current population of this coin is 14/0 and I own 2 of them. Now the question is, which one do I keep?

 

And your determination that NGC overgraded this coin is based on what exactly?

 

Lehigh, you are the resident Jefferson nickel expert here, I think, so I'd like to pick your brain for a minute. My guess was 65, I did read the jaw marks as planchet roughness, but I also read that as an incomplete strike. In addition, the extreme die wear (which created the spectacular luster) also makes the devices somewhat mushy. To my mind that should limit the grade to gem with maybe a bump for the luster. So, does die wear/incomplete strike factor into grading to any extent? should it? Does eye appeal (perhaps the most subjective grading factor) trump all? And, if you made this one from the raw, that is a spectacular score!

 

The incomplete strike and remnant planchet roughness plagues almost the entire Jefferson series. As a result, the TPGs are lenient and for the most part won’t hold it against the grade of the coin. However, PCGS will not usually assign an MS67 grade with remnant planchet roughness, but NGC will.

Unlike the Buffalo Nickel series in which grading is highly dependent on strike, strike is the least important element in Jefferson Nickel grading and rarely limits the grade of the coin in the post war years. And while the strike on this coin looks weak, it is actually decent. Because most people only ever see gem grade nickels posted, it is hard to appreciate how bad both the surfaces and strike on a low grade bu Jefferson can get.

IMO, this coin has MS66 surfaces with superior luster and eye appeal. I did not send this one in, I got it for a good price at last weekend’s Allentown/Bethlehem Coin Show.

 

I was simply stating from personal preference regarding the grade, but your explanation above made perfect sense and was extremely enlightening.

This is not a series I actively pursue, so obviously, you possess a greater depth than I, as well as know the intricacies of specific issues.