Need some help - I'm having a little trouble grading this one. I believe it will grade Very Fine, but I feel it's better than a VF-20. What's your opinion, and why? Thanks.
I would grade this one VF30. The breast is not completely flat and there is still slight detail in the eagle's leg feathers. Also, a lot of detail is left in the hairlines.
If I'm reading the scans right, I honestly think this one's EF.
It's a very flat strike. Look at how flat the eagle's toes are - they don't wear that much until F territory - and the flatness of the head feathers by comparison to the detail still present in the top edges of the wings, which aren't as highly raised and therefore less prone to weak-strike symptoms, yet wear quickly in circulation.
Contradicting that is the detail showing in the large bottom wreath leaves, generally a good indicator of a weak strike.
On the obverse, there's too much detail left in the cotton bolls. I'd expect them to wear very quickly, yet they haven't. The highest spots of the hair are evenly flat over a broad area, again more indicative of weak strike than wear.
The contradiction here is the ear, which may or may not be more raised than it should be in a weak strike.
In balance, I think this is a weakly-struck EF coin; indeed, I'll call it EF40.
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