I must say I'm not convinced that the top note was merely scanned. The note has a clear tear under Washington's left eye in the second picture yet no such imperfection appears in the first one. I'd say the photo (or scan) of the note has been woefully doctored and had heavy filtering done to it.
Here,s another note for comparison, this one landed at a strait XF-45 with no PPQ designation just to give you a better idea, but PCGS ( when they were Around generally were a little more forgiving on issues then PMG, but then Again i did have a 90 Percent cross over rate
I’m hoping you’re not talking about this note. No doctoring or filters. Note after grading. They don’t designate Exceptional Paper Quality to notes with internal tears.
Straight from the horses mouth....LOL A “Net” graded note is one that exhibits mishandling or problems that are more significant than one would expect for the assigned numeric grade. Notes with moderate-to-extensive circulation are expected to exhibit some problems and PMG will not assign a “Net” grade unless these issues are severe. If a note is “Net” graded, the problem will be listed. Common problems that may result in a “Net” grade include a large tear or tears into the design, PVC damage, a missing corner, an amateur repair and extensive staining or annotations. The grade guarantee does not apply to Notes given a “Net” grade by PMG. Notes with “Net” grades are guaranteed to be genuine only. So in other words, the damage was not major enough to cause the net grade Thank god, a net designation is death with in comes to resale !