1888 Newfoundland 5 Cent, Obverse 2

F-15, maybe on a bad day it only grabs F-12.

Looks F-15 to me.

VG-10

Thanks folks - I'm at F12 myself...this is a significant hole in my collection so, even though it's a bit pricey I think I'm going to buy it.

@TheDeductable - Yes, most of Barry's work is on the George VI 5c though he has some data on the Vickies and is now actively pursuing 1888 and a few others [e.g. 1873 for obvious reasons]. His preliminary data is that obv 2 is more scarce than obv 3 - by something like 1/3 - and that overall 1888 may be close to as scarce as 1873 [I think that's what he said - I should double check]. Though his numbers are still pretty low. PCGS has graded 17 obv 3 and 3 obv 2 with the highest grade being AU-50 [they've graded 48 1873, all varieties]. Again I take those numbers with a grain of salt as they're too low for any sort of statistical significance.

My interest is that most of what I've seen on ebay is in terrible shape. There's one there now that looks as though it was used for target practise at some point. Another G6 for $900... Only one obv. #2 sale recorded at Heritage (prior to 2010); four at Geoffrey Bell including an ICCS-graded VF-20 for $1,700 last year; a very, very generously NGC-graded AU for $2,200 in 2016 and an accurately ICCS-graded G6 for $400 in 2017. So it's all over the place like most other things....

Anyway, negotiations continue!