Is the PCGS Secure worth that much more?

I would prefer the first coin due to its originality even if not overly attractive. The second coin with its blurry photos would leave questions in my mind as to whether it was properly dipped and rinsed. With the older holder it's probably okay but you never know. At least a toned coin, ugly or not, likely won't get any uglier. A blast white coin can turn down the road and be absolutely hideous.

I wouldn't have bid stupid money for either, though.

 

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On that you can rely, but you won’t generally know WHICH someone else. The market for toned coins is badly bifurcated. Some people love ‘em. Some people hate ‘em. I like subtle toning, but generally not like Coin A above. I’m okay with most of it, except that splotch that runs from the bottom to the right on the obverse.

 

Toning that adds no beauty of historical sense is nonsense.

 

Not a big fan of the toning on Coin A, and the black stain on the kitty kills it for me. If two people (one of which may have been the seller) liked the toning enough to bid strong 65 money for it, more power to them. The premium had nothing to do with the Secure Plus holder, however.

 

I agree with @Mike at APMEX on the different opinions and would say many coins reviewed here based off pictures at times become a totally different story in hand. I have seen what appears to be a clear coin graded PCGS 68 that in hand has obvious set in gray print that you cant see in a picture. I find the finger prints to be less appealing then a toner without.

 

That's what kept me back on it. I would have gone the same $$$ on coin A as I went on coin B, but not anymore, and I do like toning in general. But that black splotch... yech!

 

You are so right. I hate pickles, my wife loves them. Yet we still get along great!

 

That's why they make chocolate and vanilla.
I have a $20 St. Gaudens with a copper spot on its obverse. When I sent it for grading I was going to have the spot removed but my local coin dealer begged me not to because it showed it still had its "original skin." I don't think the spot adds to the coin, but he sure does.

 

I lost my original skin long ago. This stuff now is much drier and starting to sag. There is this one mole that has always been there, however.

 

TMI... just.... TMI

 

I strongly agree with Beefer518 about TMI. That having been said, from a numismatic perspective I assume that your mole is the biological equivalent of a copper spot on a $20 St. Gaudens.

 

Yea, totally ruins eye appeal...You might go in for conservation, or better yet, straight to the smelter

 

I like that! A perfect analog. It’s a different color spot, but an integral part of the whole.