Looking at some of the PCGS Coinfacts Trueviews of the 2000-D Sacagawea Dollars, I am rather surprised to see the high grades on coins with somewhat severe marks. I do not own any of these coins. They are all example images from the PCGS Coinfacts site. This is no hate to the coins or to anyone who owns the coins, either. I am just trying to refine my ability to grade these (and maybe decide if I have some worth sending in hehe!). This one is graded MS68 It's a nice clean coin, but with that mark on her lower cheek, I would not expect it to grade at a 68. When you think about it, that's just a step down from MS69. I think there should be pretty much no marks on an MS68 coin, maybe just spots or very, very small marks. What do you guys think? This one is MS67 Honestly this one looks more like an MS68 and the first coin I showed. What am I missing? Same with this MS67 Looks nicer than the 68 if you ask me. This one is an MS65 Again, I am surprised. The obverse focal point has a decent amount of marks on it and you can see a lot of fingerprint smudging on it. If this was a Morgan dollar, I would think it would grade no more than 64. Again, this is an MS65 Obverse fields are clean. Marks one the eyes are sort of obvious. Is this an accurate 65? Last coin is an MS64 There are a lot of marks on Sacagawea's portrait, and even large scrapes in her hair. Honestly on some series I would think that would result in a details grade. Are these grades all about right and I am just out of practice? Or does it seem that PCGS is more lenient on 2000-D Sacagawea dollars? (I haven't looked at other dates to compare, yet.) Thanks, and once again no hate to these coins. I would be very happy to own any of them I am just trying to better my skills.
High ms ultra moderns are almost impossible to grade from pictures. The surfaces and luster which no picture can capture is such a big part of it. That said yes ultra moderns can have marks especially when talking about 65s which just isn’t a good grade for them as one example
I'll bet PCGS got it really close. Keep in mind that not all the chatter marks on the blanks are removed when the coin is struck.
I wouldn't take their grades on these that seriously. Grade them the way you do every other coin. Be familiar with the high areas that first incur wear. Look over enough to get the lay of what to expect in terms of typical luster, strike, contact marks, the works. Being a bit of an oddball metallurgically these do seem to hold up better than most coins, so just know that when you're comparing them. I'm not trying to give any synopsis, I'm just saying the routine is no different when that relates to grading these. They've just seen more so they can compare the relative strengths and weaknesses better. But again, it's their slab, their price guide, and they're grading for their market. Just like we say, grade the coin, buy the coin.
The first coin mark on the cheek was likely considered a rough planchet or planchet mark not struck out. Does not count like a PMD. That said you would think a 68 would have a great strike and great luster (of which the luster is tough to tell from a picture as stated by BB).
