About a month ago I decided to send a few coins to PCGS for grading. Here are the results of that submission: Line # Item # Cert # PCGS No. CoinDate Denomination Variety Country Grade 1 1 13546529 7590 1889 G$1 US MS65 2 1 13546530 9177 1924 $20 US Cleaned 3 1 13546531 9034 1898-S $20 US MS62 Here are photos of the coins: MS 65 (I expected a 64): Cleaned (I expected either a 58 or 63): MS 62 (I expected a 63): It is worth noting that I purchased all these coins raw off eBay in 2005. Yes, you read that right. All in all, I am pleased with the service from PCGS, but I must admit I'm still scratching my head as to how the dollar graded 65 (perhaps given the bump for the prooflike surfaces?!?), and also what evidence of cleaning I must have missed on the St. Gaudens. Have fun...Mike p.s. thanks to Mark Feld for submitting the coins for me. For those (three) of you who don't know Mark, he's a great guy and wonderful to work with.
Very nice coins! (But you probably already knew that) That MS-65 is beautiful, I don't agree with 65, lol, but a beautiful coin none the less. :thumb: The St., I don't see any cleaning? But, they had it in hand, and I don't (also I'm not an expert, haha. ) The 62 is another beauty, all in all, you got some nice coins IMHO, and they know have a label (except the St.) to even more confirm that. :thumb: Phoenix
Ver nice coins and I also agree that the 1898 shoud have gone 63. and from the pics the St Gaudens looks good to me. Mabey someone will point out if they see any evidence of cleaning.
Very nice coins. I think the first coin looks very nice - not sure about the grade. The last coin I can see a 62 on, but I am not an expert on gold coins. The 1924 I don't see evidence of cleaning, but it still looks like a nice coin.
Nice coins Mike :thumb: About the St. being bagged as cleaned - of all the gold coins I have seen that come back marked as cleaned I can only say this, they have a certain look to them. It's not something I can describe in words, can't even describe it to myself. But there is something about the surface that you just see and recognize when you see it. It's almost like the surface is kind of rough (but it really isn't, it is a very, very fine roughness) instead of smooth. That said, there are more than a few times when coins marked as cleaned are re-submitted and then slabbed. Forgot to ask Mike - since Mark submitted these coins for you, would I be correct to assume that he didn't see anything on the St. either ?
No, Mark didn't say anything about the St. Gaudens, but he was worried about the 1898-S.... Here's what he said about them: 1889 G$1 uncertified - looks MS64 to me 1898-S $20 uncertified - might no grade due to gouges in lower left obverse field in what might have been an attempt to remove copper stain/spot/shot MS62 1924 $20 uncertified - looks MS63+ This whole experience just goes to show me (us) how subjective grading really is....Mike
Here's a comparison you all might find useful in explaining my "subjective" comment above: Coin: {my prediction} {mark's prediction} {PCGS grade} 1889 Dollar: {64} {64} {65} 1898-S $20: {63} {62/bodybag} {62} 1924 $20: {58/63} {63+} {bodybag} We were all over the place!
It is very prooflike. Unfortunately, PCGS doesn't label gold dollars as such (NGC does), because I think this coin warrants it.
