1949-D Franklin

Beautiful coin. Looks to have a great strike me lost of luster.
A few hits on the obverse, but otherwise it's in great shape.

64 or 65 FBL depending on how those obv marks look in hand.

MS-64

Judging by Heritage images I think it might get FBL; NGC is supposed tougher and from what I can see their coins also show the third line disappearing near the crack. Here's an MS65 example here. You might need a login to see full size images. Of course with any coin, I see MS64 examples that look better than mine, and MS-66 examples that look worse... Guess I'd have to get a professional opinion. The value difference from 64 to 66 is pretty extreme as you all probably know. $100 to $10000+, talk about condition rarity.

Just for fun, I annotated this coin.



A - Hairlines between B and E extended past E look like die scratches.
B - Two very small parallel dings.
C - Minor rim nick.
D - Two tiny dots.
E - Two rubs, not sure how graders count these.
F - Ding in the jowl barely visible in photo.
G - Ding in the hair is biggest / most obvious mark on obverse.
H - Can't tell if this is on the surface or in it.
I - Two or three small dings here are deepest marks in obverse field.
J - Small ding in hair.
K - Bit of chatter here looks worse in picture than it is.

Not trying to influence anyone's opinion, but how does a TPG put these elements together to arrive at a grade?

I have it at 63 not fbl... The most noticeable distraction for me is on the reverse and to me what holds it back from a 64