A couple weeks ago I was roll-searching a box of halves. I was edge checking and I came across what looked to be a proof, so I pulled it out. It turns out it was a 1995 D, but the front and back had mirror finishes, along with the thick bright rims. I've done 38 boxes of halves and this is the first time I have seen a coin like this, and in the box I ended up finding 25 of them, all '95-D. I looked up the coin on numismedia and its really not worth anything until they get to MS-66 or MS-67, but the grades stop at MS-67, does anyone know why? I am going to be sending in some coins anyways to PCGS, and was thinking of sending this one in as well, just because I'm curious what it would grade. My question is does anyone know, or have a site that gives detail on how to grade between a MS65, MS66, MS67, MS68? I think I read somewhere that at MS60 there is no wear, and then the luster it has moves it up the scale, is that correct? However they grade it, I don't know how these coins wouldn't get MS70.
It's really difficult to start to discern between 65,66,and 67. The best place to see example coins for those grades is here: http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/
I took these photos of the MS68 rather quickly, and they are a little blurry but as you can see, both the MS68 and MS67 are nearly devoid of any marks or dings. The first set is the MS67. The NGC Census indicates there are 74 in MS67 and 4 in MS68. The Numismedia Price Guide lists the MS67 at $56.25, though this may be a little high, with no price listed for MS68. I think you would be wasting your money submitting yours unless it grades at least MS68. Chris
yea, I had seen photograde before, thats an awesome site, why is it that all the MS68s are rainbow toned? also, I would say the coins I found look like the 68s in your pictures. So if the 67 is worth 56, what would the 68 be worth?
Here is an example of a 2011 MS68 graded coin. Click on the picture for the full size. the hair on his cheek is a small fiber on the slab when I was photographing the coin, it is not a scratch. Edit: By the way, if you send your 1995-D to NGC, they also use the "PL" designation if the coin truly has prooflike surfaces. PCGS does not do this (not to mention that PCGS is more expensive for grading, and it is pretty much across the board agreed that NGC has better customer service).
