How To Grade Coins That Did Not Start Off Well?

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,093
Silver101 Pillar of the Community Canada 1081 Posts	Posted 09/26/2020 08:48 am One of my white whale coins is a decent 1870 Newfoundland 10c. The coin was scarce from the start with only 30,000 minted and there are obverse 1 and 2 varieties. It appears that a great number of them were very poorly struck, particularly on the reverse. Most of the extant examples that I've been able to find are somewhere between borderline legible and illegible. For example: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1870-Newfou...AOSwHnxfDk6O and https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1870-obv-1-...AOSwQ3le9hpW and https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1870-scarce...AOSwkF1eyydy Which brings me to this example which is graded AU-50 by PCGS: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1870-Newfou...AOSwrIdewqJS This guy is solid but, seriously, AU-50? I'm wondering if this is more capricious behaviour from PCGS or if the TPGs take the initial strike quality into consideration when they grade? There was another thread here about some blacksmith tokens where the issue of how to grade a coin that was crudely struck to begins with and that's what got me thinking about this particular year of the NFLD 10c. To me this looks more like a high fine or low very fine but maybe they're just throwing it a bone because it had such a rough start in life? Report this Post to the Staff

sel_69l Bedrock of the Community Australia 21788 Posts	Posted 09/26/2020 09:29 am You have really seen the need to sharpen up your own grading skills, especially when it comes to high grade coins, where value differences between the grades can be huge. A good exercise is to hide the grading result on a slab and just grade what you see for yourself, as if you were buying. When buying the tendency is to grade lower, to get the item for a lower price. Much better to examine a coin in hand, but a second best for training purposes is to have fun on the "You vs the TPG" grading threads. Interesting that I say this, because I have no slabs in my collection. But most other collectors do. I do have a few Newfie silver coins in my collection, but nothing to get excited about. Edited by sel_69l 09/26/2020 09:32 am Report this Post to the Staff
okiecoiner Pillar of the Community Canada 5589 Posts	Posted 09/26/2020 11:11 am To me, it looks VF-30 at a minimum and closer to mid-high EF. The lighter areas on the Obv high areas don't look like wear .. more like drawer rub that removes the tarnish/luster sometimes. PCGS grades almost always on the Obverses. Report this Post to the Staff
nickelsguy Pillar of the Community Canada 2301 Posts	Posted 09/27/2020 10:45 am The first question you must ask yourself is this......Do fully struck examples exist? If the answer is Yes.....then once luster is disturbed grading reverts to normal. The term weakly stuck can only be used for Mint State examples when fully struck exists. Therefore (like nickle 5 cents from the 20's)the grade of AU will be rare. Once luster is disturbed the coin must drop to vf/ef. I have heard many use the term AU weakly stuck. This is impossible to substantiate and assumptions are made to get there. IMO Report this Post to the Staff
Silver101 Pillar of the Community Canada 1081 Posts	Posted 09/27/2020 2:56 pm @nickelsguy - thank you - that clarifies that issue for me. Though in the case of the 1870 it's pretty clear that the reverse is an issue. There are very, very few examples out there that have a legible reverse in my experience. In most cases this is likely a combination of factors including wear. But I think there's something of a consensus that the original strike was pretty crummy. Report this Post to the Staff
TheDeductible Pillar of the Community Canada 851 Posts	Posted 09/28/2020 2:53 pm To answer your question, I do not think the grading companies take the original strike in to consideration when assigning a grade. They can't when you think about it. Take this coin that I once posted ... https://www.coincommunity.com/forum...undland,1882 It has hardly any wear at all and its covered in mint lustre , yet because the dies were worn this coin was struck as mint state AU55 at best. No one will ever give it an MS grade because it never was that high quality of a strike. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,093

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: Canadian Coins and Currency Forums Forum: Canadian Coin Grading

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

View Last 100 New Topics

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.32 seconds to rattle this change.