Posted 02/13/2013 7:42 pm
I agree with the points Jaobler made when it comes to uncirculated coins. I think a weakly struck coin can grade up to MS-65 but it will be less than what it could have graded if based on the other three categories of surface preservation, luster, and eye appeal. When it comes circulated coins, I think they are mostly graded based on surface preservation. Strike could cause a grade reduction if it is unclear what's wear and strike but it doesn't seem to be quite as important as it is in uncirculated grades. One series that comes to mind, bust halves, are sometimes found with weak feathers that from a detail standpoint would be VF but are found graded EF and AU because most of the loss of detail is determined to be from strike or die wear. I remember Jaobler posting a 1844-D $2.50 that had the details of a F but was called EF details by PCGS. A weak strike on a coin that is often softly struck will probably affect the grade less than on one that usually comes sharply struck.
