Hi all, I know mercury dimes have FB and Roosevelts have FT but why does this Roosevelt say PCGS MS 66FB??? http://i.imgur.com/y1iS6e8.jpg I never seen this distinction before. I thought Full Bands is for Mercury Dimes and Full Torch is for Roosevelts
They went to FB on Roosevelt Dimes in 2003... http://www.pcgs.com/News/Pcgs-To-Add-Full-Bands-Designation-For-Roosevelt-Dimes It's semantics, anyway, we all know what it is.
Well, those are bands wrapped around the torch. In fact they are very similar to the bands wrapped around the fasces on the Mercury dime.
There IS a distinction between the PCGS FB designation for Roosevelt dimes and the NGC FT designation. From this website: http://rooseveltdimes.net/full-torch-or-full-bands-roosevelt-dime/ PCGS starting attributing the “Full Bands” or “FB” for Roosevelt Dimes on April 1, 2003, citing demand for the designation from collectors. The PCGS designation requires that both the upper and lower pair of bands on the torch to appear distinct and show full separation. The line dividing the bands must be full and unbroken. NGC began using their own version of the attribution a few weeks later on April 14, 2003, but termed it “Full Torch” or “FT.” Their criteria for the designation are somewhat different than PCGS’s and arguably more strict. In addition to requiring the upper and lower pair of horizontal bands to show full separation, NGC also requires that the vertical lines of the torch must be defined. Since I have a full mixed set of silver FT/FB Roosies in MS-66, if I can get up the energy I'll do a survey to see if I can detect any obvious difference between the two TPG's.
Probably a distinction without a difference. That is, I bet every PGCS FB dime also grades FT by NGC. And vica versa.
A quick look shows me that PCGS (FB) and NGC (FT) coins are essentially the same. BUT I think NGC is "softer" on the criterion for Roosies than they are for FB on Mercs. Plus the bands on Roosies are wider than on Mercs so the split doesn't appear as prominent.
