Assuming price and value are the same, I chose the 65 as I generally prefer a lustrous coin with few marks, and 63's can sometimes be a little baggy or dull.
If the comparison was for a 67 or a 65FH, I might lean towards the 65FH coin as it will most likely be very nice looking with the added strike designation.
I started this this thread a while back, SLQ's - MS63FH or MS65?, but it wasn't a fancy poll like this.
For me, I'll take a 63FH any day over a 65. If you know and love the series, you understand how difficult it is to get real FH coins in any grade for a lot of dates/mintmarks. There are fairly easy dates for FH, such as 1918-P, 1920-P, 1930-P and S, but the true scarcity of nice AU or MS FH coins in the harder dates is easy to see if you know the series well.
Although the FH is the most important designation, since there's no such thing as a Full Shield or Full Garment on Leg or All Bosses or Rivets on shield, there are other areas I just mentioned you should look for a really well struck SLQ.
First the head, of course. Then I look at the shield, especially to make sure the 3rd and 4th rivets are clear. Then the escutcheon, or shield on the sheild. Are all the vertical lines there? Then I look at the leg. There's a vertical line on really well struck SLQ's on Liberty's right leg, as a sash or garment hem. Really, really well struck SLQ's will show not only a full garment line (I don't know if that's what it's officially called), but also a button at the top and bottom of the seam.
Sorry, that image doesn't have much of a garment line, but that's the area. You can barely make out where this line was, and with such a small amount of wear on this coin, my guess is that it was never really clear. This coin is AU58FH.
A full shield, drapery, etc is just as important as a full head. I don't know why these little specific areas are even taken into consideration-full bands; full bell lines, etc. I think a "Full Strike" designation would make a lot more sense for all coins. I you really want to do it right, list the percent of full strike right along with the grade-i.e.-MS65/90; MS63/50 etc
I voted for the MS-63, FH. Actually I'd sooner have an MS-64, FH than either the MS-63 or the MS-65. MS-63 and 64 Pieces that are REALLY Mint State (NO rub on the knee) are great values. Everybody knows that MS-65 is a desirable grade so a lot of the price potential has already been realized from those coins. A REALLY nice MS-63 or 64 FH is to me a bargain.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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The results are a bit surprising.
2 Cam-Slams!
1 Russ POTD!
Assuming price and value are the same, I chose the 65 as I generally prefer
a lustrous coin with few marks, and 63's can sometimes be a little baggy or
dull.
If the comparison was for a 67 or a 65FH, I might lean towards the 65FH coin
as it will most likely be very nice looking with the added strike designation.
Ken
K S
For me, I'll take a 63FH any day over a 65. If you know and love the series, you understand how difficult it is to get real FH coins in any grade for a lot of dates/mintmarks. There are fairly easy dates for FH, such as 1918-P, 1920-P, 1930-P and S, but the true scarcity of nice AU or MS FH coins in the harder dates is easy to see if you know the series well.
Although the FH is the most important designation, since there's no such thing as a Full Shield or Full Garment on Leg or All Bosses or Rivets on shield, there are other areas I just mentioned you should look for a really well struck SLQ.
First the head, of course. Then I look at the shield, especially to make sure the 3rd and 4th rivets are clear. Then the escutcheon, or shield on the sheild. Are all the vertical lines there? Then I look at the leg. There's a vertical line on really well struck SLQ's on Liberty's right leg, as a sash or garment hem. Really, really well struck SLQ's will show not only a full garment line (I don't know if that's what it's officially called), but also a button at the top and bottom of the seam.
Sorry, that image doesn't have much of a garment line, but that's the area. You can barely make out where this line was, and with such a small amount of wear on this coin, my guess is that it was never really clear. This coin is AU58FH.