An unfair "guess the grade" (Revealed)

[DHalladay]

I have not seen this coin in person.
It may be lovely in hand.
Some coins photograph better than others.
Some coins photograph worse.
It is graded by PCGS.

What grade does this coin look like to you?
It looks like MS63 to me.

obv.jpg (291.62 KiB) Viewed 950 times

rev.jpg (302.42 KiB) Viewed 950 times

[collectinsince65]

Looks like a 62 to me Dennis

[iceman]

Denis
With the chatter marks and and what not a MS62 is my guess .

John

[vamnuke]

62

[colwillys]

AU 58 The REV is bad .

[Vam-mysterio]

Dennis:Very nice Vam 39
Grade:best guess 62

[shortnock]

Wow! What a great find! No matter the grade!

[DHalladay]

Wow! What a great find! No matter the grade!

It is not my coin. I found it in an auction. I copied the photos and posted them here as an educational experience.

[messydesk]

Since this is an unfair GTG used for educational purposes, I may as well guess 64, and then explain why.

Heritage's glamour shots are usually pretty bad, high contrast, and accentuate every light scuff such that it looks like someone forgot to replace their divot. I'm guessing the image in the slab is much easier on the eyes and makes sense for a higher grade than one would at first guess for this picture. I really don't see any egregious actual divots in the prime focal areas. The fields are also fairly clean. Yes, they're marked, but I'm not talking about a really high grade. Would I buy this as a 64 from the above picture alone? No way.

[JohnGoldsmith]

63 on a good day for you. Without coin in hand 62+. The hit on the reverse concerns me and the chatter on the neck.
Since it is this year and mint I would not buy this coin and put a lot of cash on the table with out getting it graded at a good TPG service. It might go AU58. I would pass on this coin raw, as a dealer would put a very high grade on it.

[JASONKFLO]

MS-62 has to many deep hits for me.

[RogerB]

Unc-62. The 'canyon' on the reverse is enough to block any better "grade." The obverse might look nicer in a slab, but it's still filled with coin hopper abrasions.

[DHalladay]

If I were the consignor I would be incensed at the closeup photo lighting & angle that were used.

MS65.jpg (161.42 KiB) Viewed 836 times

[fogie]

wow!

[messydesk]

As I was saying, regarding those Heritage glam shots, but 65 sure didn't come to mind.

[ljs123]

Thanks for the demonstration Dennis.
Nice

[vamnuke]

[vamnuke]

Using the TPG price guide, and assuming 62, most of us were thinking ballpark ~$900 retail vice $10k retail actual!

[iceman]

To All
And the winning bid was 4.56K which is way low for a 65 and way high for a 64 . But ussually 65 is in the 7-10K ballpark
for a top of POP VAM , Yep I was looking at that one on Heritage also but didnt think it was a 65 for my collection .
Humm I guess Buy the coin and Not the Holder really applies to this Coin !!! LOL , I even passed on it , LOL .
But Great exercise in this Post for guessing the grades and really proving a point !!! Hats OFF to you !!!

John

[iceman]

Hi To All
On Stacks a 1879S rev 78 MS65 PCGS ( VAM 9 not attributted ) just went for 10.8K on the 18 of Nov 2020 .
So this coin is a example of buy the coin not the holder , Big Time . Just really strange stuff I guess !! LOL
And Like I said I didnt even bid on it ( Heritage Coin) . Humm strange times I guess . 2 examples of a Technical Grade( SAME ) that have a Big differential in dollars .

Sold $10,800
LOT DESCRIPTION
Premium Gem Mint State 1879-S Dollar

Scarce Reverse of 1878 Hub Variety

1879-S Morgan Silver Dollar. Reverse of 1878. Top 100 Variety. MS-65 (PCGS). CAC. OGH. LOT 6305