FS-301…how is this designation determined and who does that?

Herb_T

I have seen this mark on several labels on many different coins. I have found enough information to know that it is Described in The “Cherry Pickers Guide” but I don’t have this book. Can someone give me an understanding of what this is and how coins get assigned it as well as who does the assigning?

lermish

EDIT; I just read your question more closely. FS is Fivaz-Stanton. I can't answer beyond that how the specific number is selected or who does the selecting.

https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1886-5c-rpd-fs-301/38419

jmlanzaf

They are assigned by the same people who publish cherry pickers. It is essentially a catalogue number.

Herb_T

@jmlanzaf said:
They are assigned by the same people who publish cherry pickers. It is essentially a catalogue number.

How does it get on a coin label? TPG companies see if it matches in the book and assign it then?

2windy2fish

Yes, but whoever sends it to the TPG will have to request attribution and pay an extra fee to accomplish this

jmlanzaf

@Herb_T said:

@jmlanzaf said:
They are assigned by the same people who publish cherry pickers. It is essentially a catalogue number.

How does it get on a coin label? TPG companies see if it matches in the book and assign it then?

Yes. The TPGs use certain variety books: Overton for bust halves, for example, VAM for Morgan dollars, etc. If you look on the PCGS website, they tell you what varieties they recognize.

oih82w8

@2windy2fish said:
Yes, but whoever sends it to the TPG will have to request attribution and pay an extra fee to accomplish this

However...if the variety is a MAJOR there is no fee for attribution.

Example: 1849/6 H10C is a Major variety (no fee). 1849/6 H10C Overdate FS-301 is a die variety (fee required)

Herb_T

@jmlanzaf said:

@Herb_T said:

@jmlanzaf said:
They are assigned by the same people who publish cherry pickers. It is essentially a catalogue number.

How does it get on a coin label? TPG companies see if it matches in the book and assign it then?

Yes. The TPGs use certain variety books: Overton for bust halves, for example, VAM for Morgan dollars, etc. If you look on the PCGS website, they tell you what varieties they recognize.

Found it…thanks

MetroD

@Herb_T said:

Anyone have a link to the PCGS page that lists what varieties they recognize? Sometimes finding something on PCGS website is like trying to talk to the dead.

PCGS VARIETY PROGRAM

yosclimber

FYI, you can tell something about the type of variety from the first digit in the number (such as 3 in FS-301):

FS-101 represents the new numbering system.

Where:

101-299 = Obverse Doubled Die and/or Obverse Die Variety
301-399 = Obverse Date Variety
401-499 = Obverse Variety, Miscellaneous
501-699 = Mintmark Variety
701-799 = Miscellaneous Variety
801-899 = Reverse Doubled Die
901-999 = Reverse variety, Miscellaneous

from:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/929991/what-does-fs-021-8-amp-fs-101-mean

2windy2fish

@oih82w8 Yes, you are correct….IF it is a major variety, IE Redbook, they will attribute w/o the customer having to pay or ask for attribution but the FS number (or whatever series) will not be listed on the slab…i sent this coin not knowing it was the variety, it came back as the highest graded and now the Plate coin…no notation on the holder…

daltex

I'm worried that the OP saw on another thread that a poster sent in a coin and learned that it was an FS-301 and was therefore worth much more than he thought before submitting and then concluded that someone designating a coin "FS-301" would make it more valuable.

If I'm wrong. please have a good chuckle at my expense.

An FS-301 coin is just a die variety. Many coins have FS-301 varieties, and those that don't will as soon as a discernable (checks notes) obverse date variety is discovered. Some FS-301s are worth a large premium. Most aren't. Or, consider the famous 1972 Double Die Lincolns; in 2019 Heritage offered a set of FS-101 to FS-109 https://coins.ha.com/itm/lincoln-cents/1972-1c-nine-piece-set-of-doubled-die-obverse-lincoln-cent-varieties-fs-101-through-fs-109-ms64-red-and-brown-ms67-red-pcgs-total-9/a/1298-3142.s Note that most of the value is in the FS-101.

So the answer is that no one designates a COIN an FS-301, a DIE, or rather a die pair is so designated.

yosclimber

@2windy2fish said:
@oih82w8 Yes, you are correct….IF it is a major variety, IE Redbook, they will attribute w/o the customer having to pay or ask for attribution but the FS number (or whatever series) will not be listed on the slab…i sent this coin not knowing it was the variety, it came back as the highest graded and now the Plate coin…no notation on the holder…

That's a beautiful 1849 V-6!
I have it as tied for the second finest known V-6, behind an MS-66 (or now NGC MS-67 star) that is the plate coin for V-6 in the PDF.

It does share the same obverse die "9 over Far 6" with the V-2, with the V-6 obverse in a later die state, and a different reverse.
On high grade V-6 coins, you can see the under digits as lumps on the 4 and 9, but not in the field to the right of the 9.
The V-2 roster includes 2 MS-65s, 1 MS-66 and 1 MS-67+.

jmlanzaf

@daltex said:
I'm worried that the OP saw on another thread that a poster sent in a coin and learned that it was an FS-301 and was therefore worth much more than he thought before submitting and then concluded that someone designating a coin "FS-301" would make it more valuable.

If I'm wrong. please have a good chuckle at my expense.

An FS-301 coin is just a die variety. Many coins have FS-301 varieties, and those that don't will as soon as a discernable (checks notes) obverse date variety is discovered. Some FS-301s are worth a large premium. Most aren't. Or, consider the famous 1972 Double Die Lincolns; in 2019 Heritage offered a set of FS-101 to FS-109 https://coins.ha.com/itm/lincoln-cents/1972-1c-nine-piece-set-of-doubled-die-obverse-lincoln-cent-varieties-fs-101-through-fs-109-ms64-red-and-brown-ms67-red-pcgs-total-9/a/1298-3142.s Note that most of the value is in the FS-101.

So the answer is that no one designates a COIN an FS-301, a DIE, or rather a die pair is so designated.

The question arose when someone else posted a picture of an FS-301 Liberty nickel on the thread about the auction problem.