1930 S/S Lincoln Wheat Cent - RPM-001, FS-501

Outstanding!

Thanks so much for all the super kind comments! Much of what I post is meant to be descriptive of real errors and varieties, and pretty hard for folks to learn if they can't see what's going on very well. Thus I do try to post solid images of the coins. I have an interesting coin to try and get the lighting right up next, and hopefully get that worked out and posted in a bit.

Coinfrog brushes up against another thing I try to bring to the board a little bit, and that is the coin's grade. This one is right down the middle a 65, and would be amazed if any TPG would grade it differently. Good images are key to helping folks actually see what the minor details on the coin look like and why a coin would grade this way or that way.

Since it's out of 70...the couple of minor marks on the obverse is the reason this gets a 65...that reverse carries him...great strike with tiny hit on the N.
just a contrasting opinion...
I think he carries the grade "with" the attribution.
smat

TB - Your photo skills combined with the rarity of the coins you post are what distinguishes you from all other members on this board. Please keep up the outstanding effort. I look forward to learning more from your educational images and posts.

Very nice pick and coin TB. Personally, I think it is accurately graded at 65.



One of the senior graders at PCGS comes to our local club meetings. He has stated many times the reverse cannot improve a grade. The obverse carries the grade unless the reverse has issues, then the reverse will lower the grade.

I asked his opinion on a raw coin I was considering sending in. He actually looked at the reverse first. The reverse held the coin back in his opinion.

Anyone that takes a PCGS grading class will hear that the reverse can lower a coin's grade (if the reverse has issues).

The reverse can't "rescue" a grade even if the reverse is significantly nicer than the obverse.

The reason the person I referenced earlier looks at the reverse first is to see if there are glaring issues with the reverse. If there are no issues on the reverse, then the obverse carries the grade.

And remember that we, as variety collectors, use loupes looking for minute details. Graders generally use their eyes only, which is why glaring deficiencies to us (under a loupe) are less noticeable to them.

Yep, he only uses the 5x loupe if he perceives an issue. He said 60% to 80% of the coins he looks at don't require anything other than the naked eye. Professional graders take about 5 seconds (or less) per coin.
(This only applies to the numerical grade.)