Last year I posted some pics of Morgan dollars and asked for an opinion on the grade. Some folks we're telling me they're all AU's due to wear on the breast and other areas. I bought the coins from an experienced US dealer as MS63/64. Guess what, they were all MS, it was due to the low-res pictures that people saw 'wear'. Just saying...
It's very hard to grade using photos. The better the photos...the more accurate the grade, but even then it's still an estimate at best. The only way to really grade a coin is in hand. I posted a $20 St. Gaudens here a few years back and there was a prominent member or two who swore up and down it was fake. I sent it to PCGS and it came back MS64. It's just hard to know for sure with photos.
I agree that the pics are very low-res, but it's all I have at the moment. I take everyone's grade opinion as just that, an opinion. I know that the only way to determine 100% is to send it in and that's what I'll be doing. I'll keep y'all posted...
Exactly...if wear is present, the BEST a coin can be is AU58. To be AU58 the coin must have fields and eye appeal of an MS65 or so with just a hint of wear. But, if ANY wear is present, the coin cannot be by definition MS. Now, some of the TPGs have started to try and decide if a "rub" on a coin is circulation wear or if it's slider runs from coin albums or such. If they decide the latter is the case...they are not calling it "wear" at times. I'm not entirely sure how they come to these conclusions...but they do.