Guess the grade--1944-S Walking Liberty Half Dollar NGC

Interesting thread. It was fun. Thanks. Still wish I would have picked it up for MS64 money.

 

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Everyone makes that mistake on Walkers it seems.

 

Mark correct me if I am wrong but doesn't a weak strike limit the grade after some point? Would a weak strike keep it out of an MS67, 68, 69 holder? Maybe even a 66 that it's currently in?

 

A weak strike can certainly negatively impact a coin's grade. However, graders usually (or at least, should) consider the strike with respect to other examples of the date and mint in question.

And the 1944-S Walker is known to exhibit a typically soft strike. Thus more tolerance is granted for its soft strike than there would be for a date/mint which is known for a strong strike. Not everyone agrees with the aforementioned nuance of grading, but like it or not, it's reality.

 

A related point.... It is my impression that the amount that strike affects a coin's grade is directly proportional to the grade in question (i.e. the higher the grade the more the strike affects it). Said another way, strike would likely affect the coin's grade in 67 more than it would in 63...>Mike

 

I'll buy that, or at least that makes some sense. I also agree with mark that if 99% of a certain date has weak strikes that the grading should be looked at differently than a year that has mostly stronger strikes.

 

So now the leading question -- why do the TPGs not give coins (in particular early die varieties that always show a weak strike -- think draped bust large cents or half dollars) the same leeway they do to the no-brainer weakly struck issues like S mint Walkers?

 

Perhaps because they don't know those coins as well and/or don't care as much?

 

I think you misunderstood me (or I was unclear).

I agree that early coins are given a lot of leeway, but my point was that there are specific varieties that are often found weakly struck that the TPGs often tend to give "details" grades to the coin -- particularly as you move below MS.

And perhaps that's why my comment was a bit of a non sequitur as with Walkers the issue was with mint state coins.

 

Back to the topic at hand, and here's a tip a wise man once told me that I find VERY useful in trying to judge rub from weak strike -- look at the rims. On gem+ coins, the rims are almost always nearly perfect (maybe a small mark or two), as a coin becomes AU through circulation the rims show it in little ticks and taps.

Take a look at a lot of mint state coins and compare them to AU coins and just look at the rims -- from virtually any post 1850 coin -- and you can tell if a coin is weakly struck or has wear (particularly wear that could have caused the amount of lost detail as on the obverse of the Walker) by looking very carefully at the rims/edge. This is often overlooked -- particularly now when lots of coins are in slabs.

That tip has paid off more than a few times when trying to guess grades, and I suspect looking at the rims of the original pics is why I didn't guess AU on a series that I don't pay particular attention to like the Walkers.

Either that, or I'm just lucky.

 

Sounds like a great tip and you have me checking the photos of a number of my coins and wanting to get out some of my AU's to check them for wear at the rims. Thanks.