1925 S Buffalo Nickel For Grade Opions You Vs TPG

the reverse has nice vf20 sharpness, but the obverse with the partial date and half of LIBERTY worn off looks ag3. not sure how to grade this one other than with an ag03/vf20 split grade.

the clashing under the chin is interesting and hopefully a specialist will chime in on the variety.

Odd duck, I agree. Old cleaning? Maybe be you give it G-04 at best.

The 1925-S is one of the most difficult Buffs to grade. This date is notoriously poorly struck. Like your coin, the dies frequently were changed out individually, rather than as a die pair, leading to early die state - late die state combos for many strikes.

Buffs frequently have a die clash. The clash is most visible beneath the Indian's chin (like your coin), where the top of the letters in EPU forms a comb. On the reverse, the chin line appears as a thick line through EPU.

The Buffalo is a beautiful, but excessively cluttered, design. This creates areas of die weakness and wear and areas of strike weakness. On the obverse, LIBERTY is frequently weakly struck, along with the date. On the reverse, FIVE CENTS and the buffalo's tail, horn, beard, eye, and hair on the top of the head can be extremely weak. Distinguishing strike weakness from wear is easier on high end coins, because continuous luster in those areas points to strike weakness, while interruptions in luster points to wear. This distinction is much tougher on heavily circulated coins.

Turning to your coin, you have the nearly perfect die mismatch. You have a late die state or very late die state obverse die matched with an early middle die state reverse die. The lack of obverse detail is mainly die wear and strike weakness, with average circulation. Because of the obverse die state, I would tend to grade your coin almost entirely on the reverse, and then to adjust the grade downward for the weak strike.

On your reverse, USA, EPU, FIVE CENTS, and the mint mark are sharp. There is decent detail on the buffalo's beard, rear legs, curl of the tail, and upper back. There is loss of detail on the buffalo's head, horn, eye, front shoulder, front left leg, and flank. You have 2/3 of a horn and the end of the tail is barely visible, but not split. Given the date and mint, I see a VF-25 reverse.

The obverse is unable to be graded because of the die state and strike weakness. PCGS frequently adjusts anywhere from +1 point to -2 points for appearance, including strike weakness. Here, I see a full point deduction for the obverse weakness. IMHO, that would leave your coin net graded at F-15, even though neither side of your coin would earn that grade independently.

I've said this many times, and I'll repeat it again. There is broad agreement on grading Buffs in the AG/G range and in EF/AU ranges. The hardest Buffs to grade and reach consensus on grading fall in the VG/F/VF range, and two point swings from grader to grader in this range are common.

All depends on who graded it.

I can see it go anywhere from VG8 to F15.

No offense intended.

Ha! I'm not schooling anybody but myself here.

Remember, a VG/F/VF Buff can be anywhere on that spectrum and be defended easily. This series, more than almost any other, is so easily swayed by die wear and strike that it's pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey grading for many of the coins. Coinfrog is spot on with grading, and has helped me see the grading nuances on many coins. For sure, this is one coin where he could very well nail it. I'm grading purely from the reverse and adjusting for the obverse. Others are using blended grades. Still others will put more emphasis on the obverse. And then there's the wild guess how PCGS or NGC might see it. The only thing that would shock me would be a grade of EF or higher.

With coinfrog . I would not pay VG or F money for a buff with that obverse.

F12.