This coin went to PCGS many years ago and came back in a body bag as altered surfaces. At that time I'm not sure they would even holder these with chop marks. I have always wondered what they were seeing. Could they have thought the chop mark was fake? I would think they would just call the coin damaged. Can you see anything that makes you think the surfaces were altered in some other way?
I could see this getting an "Improperly Cleaned" grade. Also, I am not at all certain that is a chop mark. It looks more to me like someone punched something into it, especially given the corresponding mark on the reverse. I would think "Damaged" would be more accurate than "Altered Surfaces". But as you said, it was a long time ago so maybe they weren't as uniform in their designations as they are today. Nice die cracks on the reverse, BTW.
If I were to hazard a guess, it may have been the cleaning / attempted removal of these spots. With different pictures, at more an angle, this may be more obvious. (I dont see from the provided images a clear indication of what I am saying is true) If you have the coin in-hand, rotate the coin under the light and focus your attention to these area. Do they look like they were scrubbed away with the surface around them clearly standing out from other areas near by? These type of spots look to me like they were a lot darker at some point in the coins past.
It’s been cleaned sometime ago and I’m not convinced that is a chop mark. The surfaces on both sides have been altered by the cleaning.
I think I understand a bit more. I believe in the early days of PCGS, the term altered surfaces was a catch all for several different types of problems. When they came out with the genuine holder, they gave each type of problem a code that shows on the slab. Cleaning is called a 92, Damage is a 98 and Altered Surfaces is a 94. I can see where any of the three codes would match the coin. Maybe even code 91 Questionable Color. I won't but it would be interesting to send it back in and see what code they give it. Thanks for all the replies.
They came out with their genuine holder when they were suing their coin doctors in federal court. They came out with their coin sniffer the same time. Their lawsuit sold collectors on both those, or, at least, their collectors. Fear. It sells. As to your coin, it's messed with a little, but big deal. It lost a little bounce in the light for it.
