Using a TPG results to compare your grading

I came into a group of one of my favorite Lincolns ( 1960 D/D sm/lg) and submitted them to NCG for grading. Before I did, I took each coin and found specific small marks, or in a couple of cases, small spots, to identify each one when they returned. I marked them on a printed page I made specifically for Lincoln Memorial cents with a fine pencil mark and wrote what I thought each would grade. Here is the blank page. I took one set of photos and duped them and then changed to monotone to make it easier to see the mark I made.



This made it easy to find which coin ( and my grade) compared with NCG's grade. I had graded the 12 as 4- MS65RD, 5- MS64RD, and 3- MS-63RD. These were all from the same source. Below are the returns. All 4 of the MS-65s were called MS-65, 2 of the MS-64 were also called MS65. The remaining 64s were called MS-64. One of my MS-63 came back MS63 RB instead of RD, and 2 came back with improper cleaning bodybag. I would love to talk to them about those as they were a later die state and had some very fine polish lines in the field in front of Lincoln's face, and I strongly do not believe they had been cleaned, but that was their opinion.
The bottom rows look darker due to the light source.




The point of this is that if you are going to submit coins, make a record if you have more than one of the same type so you can learn from them. Write down your grade, so you can compare. Make it also a learning experience as Az. Jack and Doug have mentioned before.

Jim

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

DANG JIM!!! Great job!
I'm very impressed, and I'll make sure to do what you did, when I send my coins in for grading

 

From looking at that pic, none look cleaned...And the two that came back cleaned, look like the others... I'm kinda in shock, like Doug said, the closeups would be nice

 

Here is one of the rejected coins. The first photo is the whole coin ( look at the field in front of Lincoln's face. the second is at about 8X, the last is that area at 25X. I have looked carefully and I really think it is from the die. I don't see the shiney, v-shaped, copper lines that I usually see from a cleaned Lincoln. I can however see where it would be tough to tell without a lot of magnification.











The area like in photo 1 is the same on several other coins, the lines vary a little from faint to light ( maybe due to strike, and wear) but I can't imagine that someone cleaned only that area in several coins.

I have another lot I will send to PCGS, maybe slip this one in just to see what they say.:smile

Jim

 

To be straight, I have looked at several dozens of these coins over the years, and I must admit I had never seen these marks until I obtained this group, and it is not all of the coins, just a few.

Jim

 

The coin your pictured looks cleaned to me...And Lincoln looks like he has gotten in a few fights...
But if the others look like that, and they passed through, I wouldn't understand it...
Still, congrats, and I'd like to hear what PCGS says about the cleaned ones..

 

Several of the lines on Lincoln's face , such as the one from his lower lip down to his lower jaw is in all of "stage 4" along with others such as under "GOD". Remember this is a Doubled Die Obverse, hubbed with both the large date hub and the small date hub, as well as a wide doubling of the mintmark ( north, almost touching the 9).

But yes, I had pregraded it a MS63.

Jim

 

I agree that those look like die polish lines. They don't cross over onto the portrait at all.

 

Thanks Doug for your opinion. I am going to put them to the side until I can really do careful checks. If I just had one such coin, I would agree quickly, but with more than one with similar marks in the very same area, it does not makes sense that someone would clean coins in the same area only. But some people have done crazy things before.

I am certainly happy with the overall results since NCG only has 71 MS-65 and 13 better.

Jim