1871 Seated Liberty Half Dime (Ngc)

Here are 2 more pictures that give a better idea as to the luster of this coin. It's still sort of hard to tell but I'll just say that every surface of the coin is lustrous.

Nice clarification. Looking at the similarity of what I'm seeing across both arms and legs, it comes across more as Mint State than slider. I'll stick with MS63 but 64 wouldn't floor me.

This is a really beautiful piece.

A lot of conservative grading I see. NGC actually gave this coin an MS-66. And here's probably their logic behind it:

The coin has very few marks, and the fields are incredibly clean. There's an old bag mark on Liberty's shoulder that toned over, and is very forgivable. There are a few incredibly tiny speck-like hits on the reverse field that are hardly noticeable but apparent at magnification. It also is easy to undergrade the reverse as there's some strong die polishing lines that you need to identify as not being scratches. Finally, there's some minor flyspeck stains that are easy to forgive.

The strike is actually quite strong, and that's easy to read if you look at the reverse. The whole coin is lustrous, but I can see why PCGS gave it a 64. The obverse toning is so heavy that the gem-level luster is noticeably obscured, and for some that's very important in the high gem grades. NGC seemed to care more about eye appeal and cleanliness.

My pictures certainly didn't do it justice, and it's awesome to look at in hand. It's actually no longer in my possession, and I'm not the one responsible for the crossover from PCGS 64 to NGC 66. Whoever did that probably made some good money though.

I agree with PCGS, by the way. I'd give it an MS64, maybe with a +, myself. It's pretty amazing that someone else knew the past history of the coin. NGC seems to carry a bad reputation with this series, especially considering how they tend to auction at the previous grade-level value.

But that's grading for you, a real subjective "science." Thankfully I have no personal investment with the coin.

I think 62 or 63 would be a fairly conservative grade and that's what most people guessed. But there's no denying NGC was liberal. This piece most certainly wouldn't get $1200 at auction IMO, but possibly up to $750-800. I hope some future owner holds NGC to their guarantee, but who knows if they'd actually fold and say they over-graded.

Like I said, I don't own it any longer. It's a fantastic coin, for sure, and its PCGS holder was the perfect place for it. I just thought it'd be interesting to gauge the reactions of the forum, and indeed, it turned out more interesting that I expected. I'm sure someone who is building a high-grade toned type set may appreciate it.