1926-S Buffalo Nickel - Grade?
Omegaraptor
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Just got this 1926-S Buffalo Nickel for $15. An F-15 is a $75 coin and a VF-20 is a $150 coin. Thinking of sending this one in - thoughts on grade? Looking at graded examples I feel like it could go either way but leaning towards 20.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
1
Comments
VG10 shot 12
VG. I would call it Fine if liberty wasn’t so worn.
That's a nice example for a 26-S. The strike is real poor overall on this date and mintmark.
It has the typical flat tip to the top feather, and that affects the head and horn on Black Diamond. The "S" looks correct.
I think you've got yourself a VF-20 maybe even VF-25 Buff.
Nice pick up, my friend.
Pete
Good luck with that!
Would not have made full 'Fine' in the ancient agora.
Nowadays, anything goes.
The way they grade Buffs these days, It would not surprise me. I think it is F-15 at best by traditional grade, nothing less than a full to the tip horn should be VF.
I'm kicking it up to VF because of "overall wear", even with a little wear on LIBERTY.
Pete
PCGS VF-25
Pete
By traditional grade, a VF Buffalo Nickel has to have a full horn. In hand, the horn on this coin is almost full, if not complete.
Only problem is, that ANA grading standard only applies to Philly buffaloes and 30s mintmarked coins.
Buffaloes from the teens and twenties with mintmark are notorious for terrible strike quality. Look at the PCGS Coinfacts trueview lists for dates like 1923-S, 1924-S, 1926-D, 1926-S, the list goes on. There are UNCs without a full horn - they left the Mint looking like that. With these teens and 20s mintmarks you have to factor strike into the grade as well. This is why buffaloes, especially from this time period, are such a hard coin to grade.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
VF20 using today's standards. Looks like there may be some damage on the obv rim at LIBERTY, tho.
It's not damage, just a little bit of grime that settled there. When I acetone it it'll probably come off.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
I’m in the F15 camp. Like others said who knows what it will slab.
Great pickup at that price regardless.
You could submit, crack out and resubmit that coin 10 times and it might get 4 or 5 different grades. Grading of certain date S and D Buffalo Nickels will forever be a quandary. Depending on the grader...and I have said for a long time there may only be a handful(if that) who know the specifics of these coins well enough to determine grade... I can see it being anywhere from 8-20 assuming it is problem free. But for what it's worth...it would have fit very nicely into the Fine set I was building way back when and I would be proud to have it!
Show the obv. of that coin. I agree that the rev of the OP coin could go F+, but the obv. is where the grade comes from when a worn rev. die is used. Most of the worn rev. die buffalos I've seen in VF holders with a rev like OP have at least a VF+ obv.
Nice coin, great pick-up for $15. Not sure what the TPGs would grade it, but I would call it a F-15.
Complete Set of Chopmarked Trade Dollars
Carson City Silver Dollars Complete 1870-1893http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=2722"
my initial thought when the page opened was VF20 but with the larger pictures I think F15 because of the contact marks.
I looked at the picture for a few minutes...vacillated a bit... but finally thought F-15....I see Keets also said 15.... Cheers, RickO
I’d like to buy it as a F15 but I think it looks more like what I see in VF20 holders for that date. The Liberty is a bit weak for a VF but I think it still has a good shot. Try to sell it raw for $100 and let someone else take the chance.
amwidcoin said:
"Show the obv. of that coin. I agree that the rev of the OP coin could go F+, but the obv. is where the grade comes from when a worn rev. die is used. Most of the worn rev. die buffalos I've seen in VF holders with a rev like OP have at least a VF+ obv."
Here's the Obverse:
This is the PCGS CAC VF-25 Obverse.
Pete
Here's the Obverse and Reverse from a PCGS VF-20
It is NOT what I believe, but what I think the market will accept as a VF coin. I have no illusions to the OP coin being any more that a F-15 specimen.
Pete
I would go fine-15 a nice catch and I have seen worse in vf20 holders, both pcgs and ngc
a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
I'm talking about the localized weakness/flatness of the rim at that point.
I dunno anything except I'd buy that coin all day long at $15, and ask if they had more at that price. Nice pick up.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
It has a legitimate shot at VF20.
That’s a striking issue that occurs frequently with mintmarked buffaloes from this time period. The rim on LIBERTY is often weak.
I sure did check the rest of their inventory. There was a 14-S which looked cleaned and a 15-S and 13-S T1 with pretty normal pricing. Followed the seller, however.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
very fine 20 all the way.
a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
Fine
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
The OP coin I think is F12... shot at 15.
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12-15.
I see a very high end F obverse and a mid range VF reverse.
I think they'll grade it only F.
20
Fine15