Grade Needed For 1976 France 50 Francs P# 148 Note

This was the only noticeable defect on the note in the corner.

I hope someone can assist here.

Grading notes is outside my skill set.

I will offer some observations about your attractive, high grade note:

A) First, I'm going to repeat myself here for those who may read your thread & others who want an opinion on their note's grade


It is really impossible for me to provide you a grade from a photograph. All certifiers will put your note over a light box & use a loupe to examine each portion (front & back) looking for the slightest signs of circulation, repairs & possible processing. The last two "Details" are usually searched for more avidly on tougher/rarer notes but the "tells" for repairs/processing will always be on the certifiers mind.

B) What complicates providing you with even a general "ballpark" grade assessment is the fact that the photos look overly exposed (or too bright) & overly bright images usually mean one thing: there may be issues that are being covered up (or 'hidden in plain view').

C) It's great you provided a close up of the corner with the fold & counter flick but that also makes me suspicious that the note has had more circulation & is not UNC. The other corners may have had similar folding & flattening out. When I look at the top border of the reverse, I see a faint/small line which is directly above the "U" from "BANQUE..." and there are other small areas of darkness on the top border which look as if the note may have been placed in a wallet. The faint line along with other wavy imperfections (handling) I see along both top/bottom borders suggests the note has been folded (placed in a wallet). If that's the case, then the note would be no more than AU (& possibly a pressed EF).

The design on each side looks well centred & it appears to have nice registration. I also don't think the note has been washed (which is great) but it will be difficult to determine if it has been pressed. The folded corner suggests it has not been pressed but it could have been lightly pressed (put under books/weight, etc).

Before you send it in for certification, I suggest you take it out & shine a light on both sides as shown by the image provided by @johnnysprawl below:
http://goccf.com/t/477067#4258443
Try to see if there are impressions on the back where the serial number is. Impressions (or embossing) means the note is original & has not been pressed (& your note will get an EPQ).

-then place the note in a much larger holder (it is clear that the holder to small) if you see embossing. If you see any other signs of circulation (or folding), it may be better just to keep the note ungraded. These are the steps I went through before I went through a bulk PMG certification. Even then, I still managed to submit 2 notes that were processed (no EPQ out of 50). It is very easy to miss minor things (tells) even after analyzing/inspecting thousands of notes over many years.