Howdy folks Wondering what you guys think of this pci barber dime , it's graded AU 55 . Seller says it's hard to see any wear on the coin , said it has plenty of luster but the luster just doesn't pop like an unc coin and thinks that's why it was graded AU and not unc. From what I can tell it looks to be graded about right. What do you guys think?
Technically it does have some slight wear on her hair and on the reverse leaves . Also the luster is there under the toning , it's just not blooming with luster . I think they got it close as I'd say 58 but can see it getting a 63 . Though I wish the pics were clearer .
Those photos are not good enough to see a lot of luster even if it's there. The details are certainly at least AU55, maybe 58 like @rzage says. I'd say you'd be safe going in at a low/mid AU price and waiting to see what shows up.
Well I can get the coin for around 60 bucks , that's about au50-53 price range.. Only thing that worries me is the slab as the seller is very honest and said under a 15x loop he sees hairlines. Wouldn't that be normal for a AU coin though ? I just don't wanna buy a cleaned problem coin in a problem free pci holder .
There's no point in using a 15x loupe for anything other than authentication. At 15x, your field of view is about the size of a mint mark, or so. Hairlines that are visible at 15x but not visible at 5x just plain don't count. Even TPG graders don't use more than 5x for grading. I haven't heard of PCI slabbing cleaned coins on any large scale. Overgrading by a point or 2, maybe, but not putting cleaned coins in problem-free holders. And, even non-cleaned coins can have a few hairlines here and there. They're grade-limiting, and you'll see them more often on mirror proof coins (because they're easier to see), but a couple hairlines won't keep a coin from grading 65. Basically, with hairlines, if you can't see them with the naked eye while rotating the coin under strong light, they don't really count. They will lower the grade, but unless the coin has obviously been wiped (which will look like large areas of hairlines all going in the same direction), it wouldn't be considered a "problem" per se. And put away the stinkin' loupe.
Paul gave you some good advice about hairlines . Graders will usually grade a coin with their naked eyes and maybe a 5X loupe usually less if they think they see a problem .
I've purachased a few coins from this seller and built a bit of a buyer/ seller relationship . I ask him his honest opinion of the coin he told me it didn't look over graded to him . A little later on I ask if he though he could see the coin in a problem free pcgs or ngc holder , that's when he said after looking at the coin under a 15x loop it had some hair lines or possibly die lines and thought it may have been cleaned. I really like this coin and was ready to send payment until he had said this. It kind of turned me off on the coin a bit. So I don't know what he's seeing , even though the photos are bad it doesn't appear cleaned . I was thinking it was good enough for pci to grade it problem free but does that really mean a whole lot?
Not to hi-jack this post but is their someone who makes a bigger loupe? I got one free from the ANA booth thanks to joining their membership, it's 10X and works nice but is very small.
I think I'd feel comfortable buying a coin in a problem-free PCI holder from someone I trusted, even if it had hairlines visible at 15x. They're going to be invisible under light without magnification, so I wouldn't worry about it. Every coin, even an MS/PR 70, has imperfections if you get it under enough magnification. If you can buy the coin for a price you like, see if you can get a return privilege. Get it in hand and put it under your 75-100 watt incandescent grading lamp, and make your own determination. BTW, if you want to see what hairlines from cleaning look like, the easiest thing to do is get a common modern proof silver half dollar and literally just wipe it gently with a microfiber cloth or something. Then go back and put it under light and look at it with the loupe. Once you do this, you'll recognize the bad kind of hairlines right away forever more.
Bauch & Lomb makes a loupe with a 25.4mm diameter in 4x, 5x, 7x, and 10x. http://www.bausch.com/our-products/vision-accessories/professional-magnifiers/watchmakers-loupes
I've got a few coin I purachased years ago when I first started collecting that are cleaned ( your right you know these hairlines soon as you see them ) I'd say I wouldn't have any problem returning the coin if I didn't like it , him telling me he wasn't sure about it crossing over is what bothered me not that it wouldn't hold the grade but if it would come out problem free or not. I've got several pci coin and to be honest I've had way worse luck with icg coins then them.. I like the coin and it's in a problem free holder ,guess I'm probably worrying to much. If the coins was in a pcgs or ngc slab and he told me the same thing I wouldn't have gave it as much thought ..I'm going to sleep on it and see how I feel about buying it in the morning.
