10 Cent 1864 New Brunswick You Vs PCGS

Will do:)

I'll go 50, unless PCGS says it's a weak strike, but it looks like teeny wear all over.

AU 55

I agree with Coinfrog at
EF-45.
Blotchy tone in the fields may well be hiding tiny nicks and scratches which are very difficult to nearly impossible to find with on screen pictures.

Cameo toning on the high points of the design both sides, also makes on screen grading somewhat difficult.

The TPGrader has the advantage over us, by being able to examine it in hand, using light from advantageous angles.

Nevertheless, obvious wear on the high points helps to give the game away, hence the grading that Coinfrog and I have come to.

PCGS have a pretty good reputation, but I suspect that they may have graded a little higher.

I prefer to grade my own coins when I need to, and not submit.

Au 50 -

58

Thanks for sharing this coin and the backstory!

This is a good example of the market compensating for TPG overgrading. Where it hurts is that the resulting market prices also affect correctly graded TPG coins. It is creating a perpetual buyer's market, where sharp-eyed buyers cherrypick correctly graded coins for basically the same price as incorrectly graded coins. The market can't stay in a perpetual downward compression. Something eventually has to give.