1914 Buffalo Indian Nickel. Grade Opinion

Great eye appeal http://www.numismedia.com/rarecoinp...proof=&plus=
John1

I went ahead and got this fella. It just looks so good IMO. No risk, no fun. lol. Paid MS63 money for it. Can't be less than that grade wise. Will look good slabbed in my near future Slabbed collection I am attempting to build. Anyway...another to add to the TPG pile for launch. Paperwork

Book marked. lol Well I'm looking real good if those are the grading standards for buffalo's.

Beautiful - I'd say 64 easily.

lighting can hide a lot of things on the surfaces. post some photos when you have it in hand.

Nice coin with good eye appeal.

Buffs are notoriously difficult to grade because of design changes, die state, strike quality, and die polishing to eliminate damage from the common die clash. All of these factors affect grading.

The 1913-1915 Buffs always show a weak LIBERTY, because of the the weak lettering on the dies. This was strengthened significantly starting in 1916. Because of this, a weak LIBERTY on the early Buffs is given a Mulligan.

All three mints changed individual dies as they wore, leading to mismatched die states. It is common to have a late middle die state obverse or reverse paired with an early or early middle die state. Denver and San Francisco routinely had awful strikes, resulting in mushy looking coins. The die wear and strike quality mimic circulation, and the search boils down to presence or absence of disrupted luster in the usual areas.

The vast majority of the early Buffs are heavily bag-marked. Non-baggy Buffs are darned hard to find, and that's a lot of why anything MS-65 and up for many dates is a bank account buster.

Philadelphia 1914 strike quality is generally strong. Heavily die clashed coins are common. (Look for the "comb" beneath the Indian's chin from the lettering in EPU and thick line through EPU from the chin. The second feather also clashes above the buffalo's head, leading to spiked head buffs.)

Your coin is well struck, with only minor evidence of a die clash (beneath the chin, to the left of the neck and second feather and in EPU) and no evidence of die polishing to eliminate a clash. Both dies seem to be early middle die state, and well matched. It has the usual bagginess, most noticeable on the obverse as a series of east-west scratches above the eye and between the nose and second feather and rim dings at 3 o'clock, and on the reverse as two generally east-west scratches across the buffalo's flank and a series of small contact marks on the buffalo's front shoulder. The fields are sharp and have very few contact marks. It could be the lighting or camera, but there may be some disruption of the luster on the Indian's forehead and cheek and on the knot of the braid.

On balance, I see the obverse as MS-63, reverse as MS-64, and blended grade as MS-63.

Again, really nice coin!

All great comments and observations. Yes T-Bop, I considered the cleaning potential, as I always do. Photos can be deceptive, plus in this case the graininess of this fella. But the seller has tremendous feedback and some of the best comments from buyers I have ever seen regarding his coins sold. Very encouraging. Like I said though, no risk, no fun.

I agree with all, that somewhere in the 63/64 range. That's good with me.

I will post pictures as requested when it arrives per panzadli.

fortcollins...that was impressive my friend. Makes us understand the reasons behind what we are seeing. Thanks for taking the time to write that. Onward....

Oh...and I am assuming a Mulligan in coin speak is a 'pass'? LIBERTY assumed weak, so no loss on grading, unless it is beaten to death.

Post some new photos when you get it. I'm concerned about the luster (cleaned?)