Two more Jefferson Nickel beauties from today

congrats, nice slab

 

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All I'd like to say is this:

I've seen plenty of ugly, ugly Jefferson Nickels in high-grade PCGS plastic, so I'm not convinced at all that their grading standards are any higher when it comes to Jefferson Nickels. I've also seen many non-FS nickels in PCGS FS plastic, so again, not buying what PCGS honks are selling.

(Yes, I'll admit that NGC has some dogs, too...but what I'm saying is I'm not a believer that PCGS is any tougher on Jeffs than NGC. In fact, based on my experience, I'd say they are markedly easier.)

 

Your experience may vary - but the one thing that irks me most about Jefferson grading is something I've mentioned many times before: A coin that isn't fully struck will exhibit a number of marks on the cheek and jaw. These marks are left over from the planchet, and weren't smoothed out by the strike. The TPGs completely ignore these, and will award very high grades even to coins showing these marks (your gorgeous "67" is a great example...). In my opinion, this planchet roughness should limit the grade to 65, or maybe 66 for an otherwise exception coin. In my opinion, this should not be allowed on a 67. Both TPGs will do this, and I strongly disagree with them. I've had this same discussion with Lehigh as well. I still don't get it.

 

Ben

I'm sorry, but there is indisputable proof in the population reports. The percentage of coins submitted that receive MS67 grades by NGC is much much higher than that of PCGS. I have found that PCGS is at least 1/2 grade more conservative with their numerical grade. That said, NGC is about 10 times more strict in their application of the full step designation.

Personally, I'm an NGC guy. I like the holder better, the star designation, the scrutiny of strike designations, and I think they have better customer service. Since the strike designations can cause a huge jump in price, I want the comfort of knowing that the strike designation is deserved. I once purchased a 1944-P Jefferson Nickel PCGS MS67+ FS from a Heritage auction for $5,000. This is what I got:




One could argue that those steps are broken in several places and I highly doubt that the coin would meet NGC strict standards for the 5FS designation. In addition, with the number of hits on that coin, there is really no way to justify the MS67+ grade. So I paid $5K for a coin that in truth was probably worth a few hundred. Luckily, the kool-aid drinkers and plastic collectors don't care and I was able to trade my coin for the Compradore 1944-P MS67 FS and a hefty sum of cash as well. That coin still resides in my collection.



I think my new coin is far superior to the first coin in every aspect of grading.

Paul

 

And the two coins shown above illustrate what you are talking about perfectly. The Compradore example shows just the slightest remnants of planchet roughness on the cheek & jaw, but the other coin has significant planchet roughness on the jaw that mimics bag marks. My acceptance of planchet roughness is similar to my acceptance of high point friction on Saints. If we excluded Jeffersons based on that criteria, all of the coins with varying quality would be bunched in the MS66 grade. I could show some MS66 1944-Ps that would make it a sin to have either of the two coins above graded MS66.