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Grading Ike's

eisq222eisq222 Posts: 129
in PCGS Set Registry Forum
What does PCGS look for when grading Ike's.I've sent in coins that appear to be the same,but I get grades of MS64,MS65,MS66??What gives??

Comments

  • cjmbuffalocjmbuffalo Posts: 48 ✭
    First of all, how are you looking at your Ikes? A good 10x power loop or scope will give you a good look at the coin. The critical areas on an Ike is his face and the field directly to the left of his face. Are there many marks in this area, what are the depth of the marks, huge, medium, small, are there lots of them? With business strikes these areas can look pretty ugly. The lesser the marks the higher the grade. The depth of the strike is crititcal, so look at the entire coin both obverse and reverse. Is the strke uniform accross the entire coin, is it shallower on one side or the other (especially true in the 1971's). Are the letters and numerials crisp and clear? Is their depth universial? What about the lustre? Is the coin bright, dull, covered with crud? These are some of the areas that PCGS looks at.

    If you what more info on Ikes go to the web and type in Ike.coinmonger.com. This is the home page of the new Ike Club.

    Charlie
    Ike Club Charter Member
    Collector of all proofs 1950 and up plus mint and proof Ikes.
  • eisq222eisq222 Posts: 129
    Hi Charlie,I have both a scope and a 8x loupe,what do they look for in the strike.I will go over the areas you said.thanks David
  • cjmbuffalocjmbuffalo Posts: 48 ✭
    The strike is the general depth of all the raised portion of the coin. If you look at a proof(in general) you will see a very strong strike. This is because the coin is struke multiple times. Look at the lettering in the ikes on the front and the back especially toward the rim of the coin. The strike will very on the coin. Ikes had big trouble getting a good strike in the early years as they could not get enough pressure on the strike. When that happens the flow of the metal does not egually penetrate all prtions of the die. Look at sveral coins and if you have a mint 71 compare it to other dates and you will see the difference.

    Hope this helps.

    Charlie
    Collector of all proofs 1950 and up plus mint and proof Ikes.
  • braddickbraddick Posts: 24,126 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Don't look too close though. NO Ike looks great way up close.

    peacockcoins

  • eisq222eisq222 Posts: 129
    THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION!!
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