I swear I see scratches on the obverse. What say ye? :hammer: http://cgi.ebay.com/1797-Draped-Bus...ryZ11976QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Ribbit Ps: If you agree with me on the scratches (all over the center of the bust) why doesn't the PCGS label say Scratched?
Becuase they are 'adjustment marks'. That is when they originally weighed the coin there was a bit too much silver, and they (the mint) used a hasp to reduce the silver before striking.
PCGS will slab coins with light scrathces, but they will not slab coins with heavy scratches. Of course the judgement call on what is light and what is heavy can vary greatly. PCGS is extemely inconsistent. That said, I don't think those are scratches. Do you have any idea what they actually are ? Dang it Frank - ya beat me
Actually I doubt they would list adjustment marks. They are not an error, not a variety - they are just adjustment marks. When you buy coins like this, you are expected to know this stuff. So there would be no reason to list it on the slab.
Thank you, Sir ! I'm just trying to get up the courage to send it to PCGS. I'm scared they'd bag it for the light scratches on the rev.
I'm 100% sure they are not. They are not hairlines. It just looks like the coin rubbed against something or had something lightly scraped against it. My theory is someone had it in acetone and had trouble fishing it back out of the glass or jar. I propose they used a fork or something to get it out. The obverse seems to be from plastic or something. It may have been in one of those albums that have the plastic slipsheet on top that slides in.
Coins are body-bagged for bad rim dings. That coin has one. Minor rim dings can drop a grade 1 point easy.
1 point for each minor ding? Or 1 point for all? And, is it like going from AU-58 to AU-57 or worse? Ribbit
You get into a problem here because how do I define with words what is minor and what is not. So I'll use the picture of the coin in this thread. See the rim ding above LIBERTY's head - that is minor. See the one above OF on the reverse - that is not minor. Now if you look closely you will see that there are quite few minor rim dings on the coin - and 1 major one. The minor ones combined would drop the grade 1 point and maybe 2. In MS grades 1 point is obvious, under MS it means 1 grade, from 58 to 55.
Gotcha! The "drops" go by grade levels and MS is one point at a time. So, for instance, if it would grade out a MS-60 and they drop it one point for the dings, that would make it a AU-58 but if they knock off two points, it would be a AU-55. Correct? Ribbit
