Say a person had a gorgeous, rarer, MS Franklin half with amazing luster in a 2x2 that would easily grade MS-64, maybe a 65. Great eye appeal, no spots or stains. Fresh from a roll. Now, say said person was removing a very small, tight staple from that 2x2 and the point of the knife they were using slipped on the glossy cardboard and put a hairline scratch in the reverse field at 10 o'clock, about 1/4" long. Not deep, but a single hairline scratch on the luster. Otherwise, it's still like a freshly minted coin. Would a TPG still grade this and how would this affect the grade. What would the grade become? If the coin was at least a MS-64 originally? This hypothetical situation and imaginary person will remain nameless, since they themselves may have heard stories such as this from people in the past, and may have thought on occasion, "What kind of moron could do that!?" Lets just stick to the questions at hand here and pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
I am sure that Doug will not agree with me, but the answer to your question is yes. Here is the proof. PCGS graded it 63RB.
A point maybe 2, if on a rare coin though the market value may be cut by A point maybe 2, if on a rare coin though the market value may be cut by as much as 25% though. A Frankin, any franklin ain't rare though.
Just an aside: I do not open 2x2's by removing the staples. I VERY CAREFULLY pierce the plastic in the small gap between the coin and the edge of the window. You may even have to tap the edge of the 2x2 on a table to move the coin to one side to create a a large enough gap. Once you pierce the plastic, bend the 2x2 at that point and the plastic ought to tear open nicely. One or two piercings in the same area might be required to accomplish the job.
You're right, I don't agree about that cent at all. The scratch is severe enough that the coin should be considered damaged. And if you submitted a more common coin than that one - you can pretty much bet it would be bagged if it had the very same scracth. But to the question - it depends. The coin would have to be seen to make a determination for there are varying degrees. And, the degree of severity is also affected by the size of the coin as compared to the size and depth of the scratch.
Interesting. Well, honestly I can't believe it even scratched it. At first I thought it was just the plastic had a scratch on it. It's like a scuff on the luster that is in a fine line. It's still a good album coin which is all it needs to be.
That's it, right there. Would it slab or bag ? If slab, how high ? How much penalty for a scratch ? Depends on many factors, mostly the scratch itself. This illustrates why problem coins are such wild cards. Grading opinions vary with all coins, but much, much more so with problem coins. For some folks, the scratch might not bother 'em much. Other folks, it would drive 'em crazy.
