XF45 all day long. Lovely coin!
Yet another example where PCGS abandons their own objective grading standards, and 'market' grades - punishing darker toned coins. If this coin had a light cleaning with microscopic hairlines, removing the original patina, they would have given it XF45 or AU50
I've seen it over and over with the
Barber halves.
Lovely coin, no matter what the holder says. Serious collectors of this series in mid grades looking for original surfaces usually buy the coin and not the holder.