Posted 01/26/2020 9:12 pm
I played with your photos by cropping the pics, reducing the light and glare, and enhancing the color.
The obverse has some issues. There is an east-west scratch that appears to be on the holder, so I disregarded that. Liberty's face, cheek, and neck have serious road rash. The fields behind Liberty's head and in front of her nose have numerous contact marks. The strike is above average for the date and mint. I do not see any evidence of circulation. The blotchy discoloration at 7:00-8:00 suggests retoning from an old cleaning. There appears to be a light cameo on parts of the devices.
The reverse is much better. The strike is really nice for the date and mint. I do not see any evidence of circulation. There are several contact marks between the motto and STATES and some less significant marks near the upper right wreath. There is solid cameo on the devices. The fields appear to have more of a cartwheel effect than the obverse, and appear more reflective than the obverse. There is blotchy discoloration at 2:00-3:00 and again near 7:00, once again suggesting retoning from an old cleaning.
Accugrade had it as a full strike, but cleaned, MS-65 with a DMPL designation. Zero chance of that. The strike is pretty solid for a New Orleans coin. I agree, it was cleaned. Beyond that, the grade is way off and I can't see any way it could be called a DMPL, based on the obverse.
IMHO, this one really gets a split grade. I see the obverse in the MS-60/61 range and the reverse as MS-64. It is impossible to assess PL/DMPL from the photos, but the contact marks on the obverse would suggest neither designation to be likely for the obverse. One side with PL attributes is not enough.
All things considered, I would see this one going around MS-61 or MS-62, possibly with the old SPL designation, on a bourse floor.
The obverse has some issues. There is an east-west scratch that appears to be on the holder, so I disregarded that. Liberty's face, cheek, and neck have serious road rash. The fields behind Liberty's head and in front of her nose have numerous contact marks. The strike is above average for the date and mint. I do not see any evidence of circulation. The blotchy discoloration at 7:00-8:00 suggests retoning from an old cleaning. There appears to be a light cameo on parts of the devices.
The reverse is much better. The strike is really nice for the date and mint. I do not see any evidence of circulation. There are several contact marks between the motto and STATES and some less significant marks near the upper right wreath. There is solid cameo on the devices. The fields appear to have more of a cartwheel effect than the obverse, and appear more reflective than the obverse. There is blotchy discoloration at 2:00-3:00 and again near 7:00, once again suggesting retoning from an old cleaning.
Accugrade had it as a full strike, but cleaned, MS-65 with a DMPL designation. Zero chance of that. The strike is pretty solid for a New Orleans coin. I agree, it was cleaned. Beyond that, the grade is way off and I can't see any way it could be called a DMPL, based on the obverse.
IMHO, this one really gets a split grade. I see the obverse in the MS-60/61 range and the reverse as MS-64. It is impossible to assess PL/DMPL from the photos, but the contact marks on the obverse would suggest neither designation to be likely for the obverse. One side with PL attributes is not enough.
All things considered, I would see this one going around MS-61 or MS-62, possibly with the old SPL designation, on a bourse floor.
