Just For Fun! How Would You Grade These Coins?

Although all 3 coins have the same grade they are not equal. I look past the toning in my assessment of coins (I am partial to toning)and look for things like lustre, dings and bagging. That '52 has far too many dings to make 63. If it is MS then it is a problem MS (like when you turn your nose up at a MS60 to select an attractive AU coin for the same money).
I am a fan of PCGS but this is another case of buy the coin and not the slab.
Also I have noted over the past 6 months the seller is selling his culls and several of his slabbed coin appear to be generous/overgrades by the slabbers(like his 1940 MS63 florin that has dings comparable to typical MS61-62 florins)

I've seen this coin in the flesh. It is UNC, and was purchased from an ANDA dealer as an UNC raw coin.
The pcgs pictures for the submission weren't flattering (have a look at the other coins with certificate numbers around this one and see how bad they are)
It is an MS63BN coin. It's actually quite a wide range for the coins that fall into the MS63 mark. Were PCGS easy on it.. In all honesty, I think it was a 50 / 50.

So, WWWWW, the element of subjectivity isn't removed by the slabbing/grading process. It concerns me a little, as I considered the grading an important element, as after all, slabbing protects coin and guarantees the grade. And according to the marketplace, grading is subjective. This point is very clear even just in this thread. It's still buyer beware, You still need to carefully examine the product, regardless of the grade. I can understand the grading from a scientific point of view, you have put that across very well. If we look at this coin in terms of sales potential, how does this '52 compare with other '52 MS63 graded coins?

Trout,lustre comes into play well before the higher MS coins. I have a NGC AU58 Canberra that has great lustre, had it been dull and lifeless would it still make 58 or drop to 55?
Sfitzernator, the '52 does have one thing going for it (look at the 2), if the coin wasn't so butt ugly I would have bid on it the day it was listed.

There are strictly defined criteria for each MS grade with respect to surface preservation, strike and lustre. A coin would need to meet all the criteria for its given grading to make a specific grade. The grade may be increased by up to a point for exceptional eye appeal (this is extremely rare, even half a point upgrades are rare). As the standards are very well defined, subjectivity is minimised but the interpretation of the criteria does leave borderline coins open to subjectivity.

Comparing with other 1952-A pennies, it depends on what you like. For every coin graded MS63, there is a reason why it didn't make MS64. For 1952-A pennies it's usually water staining, carbon streaks or surface marks. In this case it's the latter two. For example, some collectors don't mind carbon streaks at all so a coin knocked down to MS63 strictly for carbon streaks may be worth an MS64 price to them. With decent photographs, this coin wouldn't sell for less than an average MS63 but it wouldn't command a premium either.




Lustre doesn't directly come into play below MS, but lustre is indicative of surface preservation which does come into play. i.e. lustre lost to environmental dulling won't drop a 58 to 55, but lustre lost to surface damage may.




It's not a requirement, but most AU58s will have it as lustre is typically only lost to wear. So a coin with little wear will lose little lustre. Some metals however are more prone to environmental dulling (e.g. bronze) so they'll more frequently be seen in AU58 with minimal lustre.