Very nice coin by the way ! I'm going MS-65 based on my experience . However in hand analysis would be necessary .
Well being able to predict what grade the TPGs will assign is the whole trick. I look at it this way, if they are more than one grade away from my assigned grade of a Jefferson Nickel, then they made a mistake. I’ve seen this coin in hand and it is spectacular, a solid MS66 with decent shot at MS67 and should be a lock for the star designation.
I barely noticed that dark area in hand, mostly because the obverse absolutely mesmerizes you. NGC’s policy of rejecting any coin with near terminal toning no matter how slight or insignificant to the overall eye appeal is a disservice. And in practice, they don’t apply this rule evenly as I have seen many star coins with terminal toning.
I do agree, that the obverse is amazing. We are just gonna have to wait and see what grade it comes back. Hopefully the photos are just over emphasizing the area.
That’s pretty egregious, but do you think that the small patch of charcoal toning should prevent the star on this Jefferson.