1966 SMS Jefferson.....nicest one i've ever found...New pics of both coins.

SUMORADA

Opinions welcome...........it's still raw.









Sony Cybershot 5.1

coinkid855

65DCAM. Nice coin!!



-Paul

ModCrewman

Very nice...looks rather gemmy.

I picked this one up raw earlier this month:

noodle

if it were mine, it wouldn't be raw for very long

OldEastside

Thats pretty sweet Eric, did ya find it in a set? and if so
whats the rest of the family look like?

Steve

SanctionII

Beautiful coin. Congratulations on the acquistion.

The best thing about your new SMS nickel is the fields. If in hand the fields of the coin look like they do in the picture of the coin, you have a coin that is very close to the appearance of a proof coin. Very hard to find SMS coins that have fields that approach those of proof coins.

Add to the proof like fields the fact that you have thick, two sided, frost on the devices and the result is a possible DCAM SMS coin.

Two sided frosted devices can be found on SMS nickels fairly often, but the frost many times has breaks resulting in an uneven look. Toss in non mirrored fields and you have coins which are common. Not so with yours.

Do you have the other four 1966 SMS coins [cent, dime, quarter and half] of similar quality to the nickel? If so, all five coins would make one heck of a nice looking set.

I have a 1966 SMS nickel that looks just like your new acquistion, except that it is golden in color on both sides [like the color of the obverse of Modcrewman's pictured 1966 SMS nickel]

What do you think the numerical grade of your coin would be? Does it have hairlines or other negative attributes that would knock down the grade?

Finally, did you find the nickel in a 1966 SMS set in OGP, or was it a single? Either way, I bet your acquistion cost was not more than $8.00.

cladking

Nice!! That reverse is very proofy.

I've seen a few of these that I suspect are truly proofs but none are cameo.

SUMORADA

Nice!! That reverse is very proofy.

The obverse fields in hand are IMO the same as the reverse, if you'll notice the obverse pic was taken at a slight angle while the reverse is dead on, that was not my intention, believe it or not I was trying for over an hour to take pics to downplay how good the coin really is in hand, dead on pics of this coin and one other from the same batch look so good you would think that they 1964 dcams.......

I will post "dead on" pics of both in the morning when I get to the office.

leothelyon

I was just looking at one of these over in the registry, the Egnramushall collection and I swear the 1965 business strike is an SMS.

But anyway, your 1966 looks very frosted. Proofs, especially frosted ones, are the most difficult coins to photograph. The trick is to pull or direct all the light bouncing off all the frosted devices back into that 2 in. diameter camera lens. My 1966 and 1967 SMS can be seen in my collection.

docg

The 1965 in Erasmus Hall collection is a circulation strike. I found it in an OBW roll.

keets

the image looks a little juiced with the white balance cranked up some, but i suspect the coin is still a DCAM.

SUMORADA

the image looks a little juiced with the white balance cranked up some, but i suspect the coin is still a DCAM

This is the reason why as I stated above I tried to downplay my pics, every pic I took looked juiced, this is not the case here....it's/they are just over the top.




edited for spelling....da

keets

maybe juiced is the wrong descriptive term. the light intensity just looks off. i know that i sometimes have difficulty getting a good balance with Nickels, but they tend to be less white than Silver and more along the lines of what Modcrewman posted or OldEastside's icon coin. to that end i think a straight-on picture such as what you're striving for is almost always better. i have a 1969 in an NGC holder that "glows" like your SMS despite my best effort to not have it look that way. maybe you can try to use less light so as not to exxagerate the contrast. looking at the pictures below should give an idea of what i'm talking about. they were all taken minutes apart with no adjustments.

leothelyon

<< <i>The 1965 in Erasmus Hall collection is a circulation strike. I found it in an OBW roll. >>



That's the problem with the SMS coins and the business strikes, whether the business strikes were made from used SMS dies and that is what has been assumed over the years. The coin in question shows deep mirrors and frosty white devices. If we are to use descriptive variables to distinguish one from the other, 1965 to 1967 business strikes cannot look proof-like and frosted and vice-versa for SMS examples, dull and weakly struck. The 1965 coin in question can easily be compared to the 1967 to see the differences in the same collection although they came from the same dies. The 1967 has the variables to be considered a business strike.

SUMORADA

New pics in first post.........

SamByrd

Wow, never have I seen a SMS Jefferson like that. Both sides are DC. The coin at a glance looks just like a 1969 proof DC would. Very cool coin.

SanctionII

The new photos of the coin show how misleading photographs can be. The new photos show that the coin has an appearance [in the fields] much more like a high quality SMS Cameo or DCAM coin than the appearance of a proof coin.

Regardless of the photos, the coin is quite likely a DCAM.

Anyone care to guess what numerical grade the coin would receive when slabbed? I guess a 66.

cladking

<< <i>The new photos of the coin show how misleading photographs can be. The new photos show that the coin has an appearance [in the fields] much more like a high quality SMS Cameo or DCAM coin than the appearance of a proof coin. >>



Yes. I strongly agree. I'm not especially surprised since two strikes would have to affect
the obverse as well but the reverse looks like a normal very high quality SMS rather than
a proof in the second photo.



<< <i>
Regardless of the photos, the coin is quite likely a DCAM.

Anyone care to guess what numerical grade the coin would receive when slabbed? I guess a 66. >>



I'm sure it will go DCam but fear they might slam it for the marks on the cheek. It should
get 66, I believe.

seanq

<< <i>

<< <i>
Regardless of the photos, the coin is quite likely a DCAM.

Anyone care to guess what numerical grade the coin would receive when slabbed? I guess a 66. >>



I'm sure it will go DCam but fear they might slam it for the marks on the cheek. It should
get 66, I believe. >>




The marks on the cheek were on the planchet before the strike, because that is the deepest part of the die oftentimes it is not fully struck. I agree that they do count against the numerical grade, though you could make an argument that they should not. I also agree that 66DCAM is an appropriate grade for the OPs coin - she's a beauty.


Sean Reynolds

Cameonut

That is a great pickup! Looks dcam to me as well.

Here is my '66 in 66 dcam for comparison.

seanq

Good grief cameonut, those are the best steps I've ever seen on a 1966 nickel, business strike or SMS. I seriously did not know they came like that. beautiful coin.


Sean Reynolds

acan451

Hi I have three 1966 sets and the Jefferson in one is just great.
Full steps and a nice deep strike.

I also had a dozed raw Jefferson's delivered the other week.
First they are packed so well, in cardboard flips and then is coin sheet.
These are the most amazing Jefferson's I have ever seen all have amazing steps
and all have a great strike.

It seem we are both very Lucky lately LOL
congrats ON A BEAUTIFUL COIN
Alan

keets

i would agree with the others that the new pictures are more realistic and show me a typical DCAM SMS coin that is on par with MS67DC's i've seen depending on just what it looks like in-hand. these coins are an enigma; i have seen fully struck coins, deep mirrored coins, mark free coins and coins with thick, unbroken frost. finding a coin with two of those attributes is difficult and with all four a near impossibility. most often the nicest Deep Cameo SMS issues will have good frost with almost clear mirrors, yet have an average strike that shows unstruck planchet flaws and incomplete step detail.

nice coin!!

Cameonut

<< <i>Good grief cameonut, those are the best steps I've ever seen on a 1966 nickel, business strike or SMS. I seriously did not know they came like that. beautiful coin.


Sean Reynolds >>



Er - thanks! I bought it for the frost and contrast and really never even looked at the steps!!