Posted 11/01/2019 12:20 am
The 1920-D is a bear to find in higher grades. It is also almost always weakly struck, frequently with worn dies. Grading this date is tricky.
Your coin has mismatched dies, a VLDS obverse matched with a MDS/LMDS reverse. That's typical for the date. The strike is soft, also typical for the date. There is the usual clash, with heavy polishing to remove some of the clash marks. Again, that's common for the date.
The obverse shows a very weak LIBERTY. Most of that is the die state, combined with polishing to reduce evidence of the clash marks. (Note the right rear leg of the buffalo, which is also overpolished and weak. That's what clashed with LIBERTY.) The eyebrow is missing. The eye, nose, chin, lower braid, two large feathers, and hair next to the forehead and the cheek are very weak. This is both evidence of the weak strike and die state. Heavy die cracks are all over the obverse: beneath the eye, "R" to the eyebrow, "Y" to the nose, tip of the nose to the rim, top lip to the rim, chin to the rim, right ribbon diagonally to the rim, second feather, and tip of the second feather toward the neck. This die was near the end of its life. Taking all that into consideration, the obverse appears to be F-15. Adjusting appearance because of strike weakness and die state, I believe the actual obverse grade is higher, likely VF-20.
The reverse is in much better shape. The MDS die combined with a typically weak Denver strike is not quite as hard to grade. Most of the horn is present, though weak. The hair on the head is largely gone. The hair on the back is about 1/3 present. The tail is visible, but not split. The front shoulder is weak and the lower left front leg lacks detail. The eye and beard are very weak. Heavy polishing (to eliminate evidence of clashes) has abraded most of the buffalo's right rear leg, parts of the top of the head, and parts of EPU. The overall appearance of the reverse is VF-25.
Adjusting for strike, die state, and die polishing, I think your coin has a technical grade of VF-20 and possibly VF-25 on a good day. It would take a few knocks on a bourse floor for the weak strike and some of the contact marks on the obverse. That said, at $37, you did well on this one. An average VF-20 would trade around $70-ish, a little below Greysheet. Ditto for an average VF-25, trading around $75 to $80. I think your coin would trade north of $50, and maybe north of $60.
Again, a 1920-D is a really pesky, tough date to snag above VF, and very few of those coins have a "wow" factor. You did well.
Your coin has mismatched dies, a VLDS obverse matched with a MDS/LMDS reverse. That's typical for the date. The strike is soft, also typical for the date. There is the usual clash, with heavy polishing to remove some of the clash marks. Again, that's common for the date.
The obverse shows a very weak LIBERTY. Most of that is the die state, combined with polishing to reduce evidence of the clash marks. (Note the right rear leg of the buffalo, which is also overpolished and weak. That's what clashed with LIBERTY.) The eyebrow is missing. The eye, nose, chin, lower braid, two large feathers, and hair next to the forehead and the cheek are very weak. This is both evidence of the weak strike and die state. Heavy die cracks are all over the obverse: beneath the eye, "R" to the eyebrow, "Y" to the nose, tip of the nose to the rim, top lip to the rim, chin to the rim, right ribbon diagonally to the rim, second feather, and tip of the second feather toward the neck. This die was near the end of its life. Taking all that into consideration, the obverse appears to be F-15. Adjusting appearance because of strike weakness and die state, I believe the actual obverse grade is higher, likely VF-20.
The reverse is in much better shape. The MDS die combined with a typically weak Denver strike is not quite as hard to grade. Most of the horn is present, though weak. The hair on the head is largely gone. The hair on the back is about 1/3 present. The tail is visible, but not split. The front shoulder is weak and the lower left front leg lacks detail. The eye and beard are very weak. Heavy polishing (to eliminate evidence of clashes) has abraded most of the buffalo's right rear leg, parts of the top of the head, and parts of EPU. The overall appearance of the reverse is VF-25.
Adjusting for strike, die state, and die polishing, I think your coin has a technical grade of VF-20 and possibly VF-25 on a good day. It would take a few knocks on a bourse floor for the weak strike and some of the contact marks on the obverse. That said, at $37, you did well on this one. An average VF-20 would trade around $70-ish, a little below Greysheet. Ditto for an average VF-25, trading around $75 to $80. I think your coin would trade north of $50, and maybe north of $60.
Again, a 1920-D is a really pesky, tough date to snag above VF, and very few of those coins have a "wow" factor. You did well.
