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Who is right CACG or PCGS? 1964-D/D FS-501 Jefferson Nickel

In a nutshell I cracked a CACG MS64 1964-D/D FS-501 that looked choice for the grade hoping for a MS65 at PCGS - which is a huge jump in price and rarity. Well PCGS did give it MS65 but failed to attribute the FS-501 which looks clear as day to me but thought I would get a second opinion. Jefferson Nickel people thoughts?

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    manlye1manlye1 Posts: 251 ✭✭✭

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    coinbufcoinbuf Posts: 12,581 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not the first time there have been questions about variety attribution at PCGS, and yes it looks like FS-501 to me.

    My Lincoln Registry
    My Collection of Old Holders

    Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
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    IkesTIkesT Posts: 4,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In this case, CACG was wrong and PCGS was correct.

    The "blob" that you see to the right of the mint mark on your coin is die deterioration doubling.

    The repunching on the 1964-D/D FS-501 is not to the east, but to the south (see image below). The FS-501 variety often also has die deterioration doubling to the east, which may be the cause of the confusion.

    As a consumer, it pays to always know exactly what the variety is supposed to look like before making a purchase.

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    TallahasseeCoinClubTallahasseeCoinClub Posts: 479 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 18, 2026 12:33PM

    This DOES look like FS-501. Weird thing is... it was previously in a PCGS MS-65 slab with FS-501 / FS-037.5 attribution?

    Official PCGS account of:

    www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com

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    TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,225 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Did you pay for the attribution ?

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    cheezhedcheezhed Posts: 6,410 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Congrats on the grade point upgrade.

    Many happy BST transactions
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    IkesTIkesT Posts: 4,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Once again, the OP coin is not the FS-501. The image I have posted above with the red arrow is a correctly attributed FS-501 from CoinFacts.

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    IkesTIkesT Posts: 4,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Note that more than one of the coins imaged on CoinFacts are not correctly attributed for the variety.

    Watch out!

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    manlye1manlye1 Posts: 251 ✭✭✭

    @IkesT said:
    In this case, CACG was wrong and PCGS was correct.

    The "blob" that you see to the right of the mint mark on your coin is die deterioration doubling.

    The repunching on the 1964-D/D FS-501 is not to the east, but to the south (see image below). The FS-501 variety often also has die deterioration doubling to the east, which may be the cause of the confusion.

    As a consumer, it pays to always know exactly what the variety is supposed to look like before making a purchase.

    What about the line going directly through the D on both coins? I'll have to look at mine again in hand to see if it has the south but it does look like the other 2 lower grade ones I have. Thank you for the help BTW!

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    manlye1manlye1 Posts: 251 ✭✭✭

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:
    Did you pay for the attribution ?

    Yes

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    IkesTIkesT Posts: 4,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What about the line going directly through the D on both coins? I'll have to look at mine again in hand to see if it has the >south but it does look like the other 2 lower grade ones I have. Thank you for the help BTW!

    You're welcome. The lines might be part of a repunching, a mint mark punch defect, or an artifact of the lighting. But as seen in the animated image below, your mint mark and the FS-501 mint mark do not match. Yours is missing the repunching south, which is a key feature of the FS-501, and the position and orientation of your mint mark is also slightly different.

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    IkesTIkesT Posts: 4,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @manlye1 I'm sorry, by the way, that you were burned on this particular nickel. All too often, we see evidence of TPG attributors "winging it" when it comes to varieties.

    My philosophy is that I am not paying for anyone to "wing it", I'm paying for a correct attribution. Go figure!

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    cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,939 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Try CACG again. The coin looks silly in a 64 holder.

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    Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 10,067 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The holder game has its risks

    Investor
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    124Spider124Spider Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @IkesT said:

    What about the line going directly through the D on both coins? I'll have to look at mine again in hand to see if it has the >south but it does look like the other 2 lower grade ones I have. Thank you for the help BTW!

    You're welcome. The lines might be part of a repunching, a mint mark punch defect, or an artifact of the lighting. But as seen in the animated image below, your mint mark and the FS-501 mint mark do not match. Yours is missing the repunching south, which is a key feature of the FS-501, and the position and orientation of your mint mark is also slightly different.

    I just want to say that IkesT did a truly wonderful job of explaining the situation.

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    IkesTIkesT Posts: 4,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @124Spider Much appreciated; thank you!

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    ProofCollectionProofCollection Posts: 8,083 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @IkesT said:
    Once again, the OP coin is not the FS-501. The image I have posted above with the red arrow is a correctly attributed FS-501 from CoinFacts.

    I agree. The images on Variety Vista do not match OP's example:

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