3 saints battle, you decide the winner (grades revealed)

steveben · August 31, 2011 3:57AM

here are three saints. look at each and vote which has the best grade. i'll reveal the grades tomorrow so that you can see who the TPG's think is the best. comments are welcome. yes, i know the images could be better...but at least they all suffer the same lousy imaging.

saint 1:

saint 2:

saint 3:

MarkInDavis · August 31, 2011 4:01AM

Seemed like an easy choice.

Bankerbob56 · August 31, 2011 4:03AM

<< Seemed like an easy choice. >>

mkman123 · August 31, 2011 4:05AM

I say the NGC one. The 2nd one has too many pock marks or something. 1st one looks good but doesn't look nicer than the 3rd one.

Artist · August 31, 2011 4:14AM

Duh the 3rd Saint is the nicest... but that wasn't the question!

I don't think this would be much of a post if the nicest coin had the nicest grade...

Ergo, it is a toss up between coin 1 & 2...

1 has some nasty looking hits in the obverse fields... plus it is in an OGH, for whatever that may be worth... my guess is that this coin was thrown in to round out the poll.

So I vote #2!

steveben · August 31, 2011 4:18AM

feel free to speculate on the grades of each to make it more interesting, if you like. i think you'll be surprised.

atarian · August 31, 2011 4:46AM

3 has the eye appeal i would want to vote for that but #1 is a higher grade than 2 so I bet coin 1 is the winner in this bunch.

Billet7 · August 31, 2011 5:08AM

MS62
MS63
AU58

PTVETTER · August 31, 2011 5:14AM

I think the grades will suprise us!

keyman64 · August 31, 2011 6:13AM

When do we get the interesting reveal?

ebizgobro · August 31, 2011 6:31AM

I like them all.

However, I rank them as (1) 1911-D, (2) 1922, and (3) 1925.

Shamika · August 31, 2011 6:36AM

I would grade these 63, 62, and 64 respectively.

PerryHall · August 31, 2011 6:46AM

I voted #3 since it's the most attractive based on those lousy pics. It may be an AU58 or a MS64 but it would be impossible to tell from those pics.

robkool · August 31, 2011 7:10AM

#3

Rollerman · August 31, 2011 7:21AM

<< feel free to speculate on the grades of each to make it more interesting, if you like. i think you'll be surprised. >>

Nothing surprises me anymore with grading, especially from pictures. #1 has some funky color going for it, #2 has more hits so I voted for #3 as it most represents what I would be looking for....again, based on the images. I'd grade them 64, 63 and 64+.
Pete
Edited to add: these are far from what I collect and really know anything about

darktone · August 31, 2011 7:25AM

I picked #1 as it looks original as does #2. The third one looks circulated or cleaned. The first one has a nicer strike and has nice frost. My guess for grades are ms62, ms62 and au58.

09sVDB · August 31, 2011 8:12AM

I agree that #1 & 2 are commercial UNC's but #3 is my choice for eye appeal.

coinkat · August 31, 2011 8:34AM

I like the 1922 best-

The 1925 will likely be the lowest graded at 63

I do not prefer the 1911-D for reasons that seem obvious to me

PerryHall · August 31, 2011 8:38AM

<< I do not prefer the 1911-D for reasons that seem obvious to me >>

Yup. Appears to have been dipped based on the pale brassy look---especially the reverse pic.

coinkat · August 31, 2011 12:17PM

just an interesting side note - the 1922 was likely slabbed about 15 yrs ago based on the PCGS LABEL/INSERT and the NGC was probaly the most recent-

DennisH · August 31, 2011 12:24PM

#3 is too obvious a choice, so I'm going to guess that it graded AU58.

So I picked #2 as the highest TPG grade.

Broadstruck · August 31, 2011 12:32PM

Even though the 11-D's most likely been dipped given the 3 choices far a type example I still select it.

mkman123 · August 31, 2011 12:36PM

No more teasing, show us the grades!

Broadstruck · August 31, 2011 12:43PM

<< I would grade these 63, 62, and 64 respectively. >>

I don't see any of them graded @ AU58.

steveben · August 31, 2011 1:11PM

the comments and the poll results are very interesting to me, as i expected. thanks to everyone for participating. i think it demonstrates how challenging gold is to grade (and photograph, right perryhall? <wink&gt

. that was my intent, rather than showing off the coins, because none of these are particularly rare or in gem condition.

here they are:

Billet7 and darktone were almost dead on with the TPG grades. well done.

those who said 1911-d has been dipped...i agree. luster is still there, but the color is a giveaway. i think it was perryhall that said the color is brassy as opposed to the darker, almost orange luster you should expect to see.

still, the majority like or think that '11-d graded the best. very interesting...that's why i included it. i think it goes to show another reason why you need to be careful buying raw gold. when i bought this coin, i thought it was undergraded, but once i put it side by side with others, i saw the difference in color and changed my mind. i paid a fair price for it...but if it had been raw, i probably would have paid more than i should have. so, i feel lucky because i learned a good lesson without getting burned.

the '22 is my favorite, but i am not so sure it's a 62. but it demonstrates how important original luster is even though the coin has taken a lot of hits.

keyman64 · August 31, 2011 1:22PM

Very interesting! Good post.

RYK · August 31, 2011 1:32PM

I got sucked into the 61, just like most of the rest. When I am looking at Saints, I want to see one thing: LUSTER

Broadstruck · August 31, 2011 1:41PM

I'd be sending that 11-D back through for a regrade asap!

darktone · August 31, 2011 1:44PM

<< I'd be sending that 11-D back through for a regrade asap! >>

It's cleaned/over dipped. No real chance for an upgrade here. Probably a better chance not getting holdered.

relicsncoins · August 31, 2011 1:49PM

At least on my monitor, the OGH seems to have the most natural color with lots of copper showing through. Especially in the last photo with the grades posted.

coinkat · August 31, 2011 8:04PM

I agree with Darktone-

The 1911-D is this week's poster coin for an overdipped coin that people find flashy instead of a train wreck

The 1922 would be the best candidate for an upgrade- but wait- it has color and the look of what an original Saint should like so I suspect it really has no chance

3 saints battle, you decide the winner (grades revealed)

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