Assistance with mint state grading?

Whenever I see a coin graded MS64/64+ the first thing I look at is the strike, in this case the strike is better than the MS65 they show in their Photograde example (your coin has all 13 stars perfectly struck). Thus, I believe it's the scratches I've highlighted below:

Scratched? SCRATCHED? Then it should not be in a straight graded holder at all, should it?

Great coin.

Here's my thought.

According to PCGS, amazing eye appealing toning can add 1 point to the technical grade.

To me, this toning and eye appeal fits the bill..

So....do you mean to tell me that this coin is technically a 63+?



Bills impression about the limited ones he viewed being conservatively graded is telling.



The scratches pointed out would seem to keep it out of the stratosphere grades but hmmmm?

You'd need more issues than what we've mentioned to keep that from MS65. Could be some other defects not noted like wipe lines, hairlines, etc. There's a slight line going vertical on Liberty's face. 1 or more of those along with other defects would be enough to keep it from a technical 65. Maybe the luster is a tad weak on some part of the coin? Strike and eye appeal don't hold it back. The coin merits MS65 money so doesn't really matter if it's graded 64+ or 65. I think NGC had it right years ago.



PCGS tends to be considerably tougher on choice/gem bust coins than NGC. Look at how hard it is to make a PCGS MS65 CBH vs. NGC. It's no different with bust dimes and quarters. I recall in Dec 2008 I found a pair of NGC old fatty capped bust dimes graded MS64. I was 100% sure one of them would go 65 at PCGS if not 66. The other one I felt would at least cross. Boy, was I surprised. They wouldn't even cross the "nicest" one (MS66 surfaces with a tad of strike weakness). And the one I felt was only a shot coin they crossed to 64. I ended up losing money on those "fresh" 2 coins. I'm sure since then both were cracked out and at least one of them resides in someone's MS65 holder today.

A goldie on that kind of coin has astronomical odds....like 1,000 to 1. I don't think JA will upgrade the sticker as he would probably have the same concerns with those scratches, etc. that some PCGS graders did.



To date, CAC has gold stickered 2 coins out of all capped bust dimes, quarters, and half dollars reviewed in MS65 or higher. And in the large size dimes and quarters, not a single coin over MS63. That would be a special coin.

When you try to copy, quote, etc. that 113 error comes up at times. I get it a lot when quoting a previous post. I try to remember to just copy and re-paste rather than quote. So you'll save some time if you copy to your clip board first. Just in case you lose it.

Probably. 19th century choice/gem bust type coins that come this wildly toned got that way because they were dipped/lightly cleaned and placed in an active toning environment, like an album. Hairlines were often the result.

Give me 64+ coins like that all day over the blazing white 65/66's all day. Particularly with 19th century coins. We can try to dissect it from photos but with a dime, who knows? I always find smaller coins like this harder to grade in the first place.

Is that a staple scratch going up and down on the face?

Enjoy it for what it is. It's a beautiful coin that will speak for itself no matter what the holder says IMO.

I think the scratch and the lack of a great strike have limited the grade. I have a number of great toned coins in my collection that are all 64-64+ and like this coin have great eye appeal in hand. I think the scratch is an issue and to many the coin cannot be 65 or 65+ because of that.

OINK