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1926 S Buffalo grade question.
Vetter
Posts: 789 ✭✭✭✭✭
I could use a little help or opinions. The 1st pictured 26 S is graded VF30. Would the 2nd 26 S be considered a VF20 or just a F12 or F15? I’ve been playing with Buffalos for what seems forever but they still drive me crazy trying to grade them. Especially the mint marked teens and 20’s. Thanks!
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Im very new at buff nickels, so my grading doesnt hold much weight.
To me it looks in the F15 area.
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F 15 now, but only a 12 back in the day.
I would give it a 20... I am known to be a tad generous on Buffs though... Cheers, RickO
Old school .....f-15
New school revised standards......low vf
I wish the obverse were a tad stronger to match the reverse but with that horn I think you’re getting VF20.
Looks VF-30 to me or maybe a tad better. You guys are being really hard on this beautiful buffalo nickel.
That’s my opinion,
Joe
Edited to say the pics you’re showing looks like two different coins. My grading assessment were formed by the top pictures.
The bottom coin looks VF-15.
Compared to the 1st coin, VF25, but who graded the 1st coin?
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
It’s in a PCGS holder
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15 with a decent shot at 20
Here is a photo of PCGS Photograde's 1936 VF30 Buff obverse. Look at the LIBERTY, Feather and knot, Full outline of 6 then look at the 1st coin's obverse. Then go to PCGS Photograde and compare the reverse's. Then think of the grade again, you may or may not change your mind. Grading is by the eye and not so much by photos which lighting is hardly ever the same between two photos and shadow allow definition to be seen or hidden.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
This^^^. And the top coin would be a scant VF. IMO both still are,
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
The Buffalo Nickel series is a date by date analysis based upon the mint and striking characteristics associated with the mints. There are dates in the mid twenties that are miserable coins- the 1925-D and 26-D come to mind as well as the 25-s and 26-s.
The key - contrary to common thought- Is not about a full horn mainly because most of the mintage of certain dates from Denver and SF never had full horns to begin with. So the grading premise from day one was flawed as to as the horn mentality.
Grading Buffalos is about the quality of the surfaces and separating wear from the quality of the mint product.
This really is the Readers Digest Condensed version.
Please do not post a 1936 Buffalo to compare to a 1926-s in terms of grading to suggest that the 1936 has any relevance to the 1926-s because it simply does not... and that is part of the problem
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
@coinkat is exactly correct and I stand corrected.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
It looks close to my NGC VF 25. Maybe a VF 20?
Too much emphasis is placed on the horn. It shouldn't be discounted, but truthfully the horn is almost always compromised by it being directly opposite the top feather on Iron Tail.
There just wasn't enough metal displacement to fill both areas, and that's why the top feather often is lacking detail at the bottom.
It's also the reason that the tip of Black Diamond's horn is oftentimes incomplete and just fades into nothingness at the tip.
I generally look at the hip where it meets the tail, and take stock of the wear in that location. The tail is worn into the hip at low VF grades, it's just a matter of figuring how flat and how much wear is present.
The second Buff is very close to VF, but if you look at the tail and hip, you'll see much more flatness and merging than on the graded VF-30 above it. Note how there is no separation on the bottom part of the mane as compared with the VF-30 above it
The obverse is poorly struck at the central area, as evidenced by the lack of detail on the braid and knot, so trying to grade the coin by the obverse is not recommended.
I sure would like to give it a VF-20, but there just is too much detail missing IMHOP.
F-15 is about right.
Pete