Planchet And Die Marks Impacting Surface&eye Appeal:pls Grade Jn 89d FS

Anything negative that happens to a coin after it leaves the dies lowers the grade. Dings and scratches that happen at the mint usually cannot be distinguished from those that happen in the bag while being trucked from the mint, or in the coin rolling machine, etc.

I'm convinced something in the maufacture of nickels changed around 2006. Since then, so many nickels fresh from bags and rolls exhibit big hits. I have a vision of the nickel press being 100 feet above the bin that catches the output, such that the coins in the bin get clobbered by subsequently arriving falling nickels. Yes, this is happening at the mint, but those big dings still decrease the grade.

Imagine if that did not lower the grade. Then the appearance of MS68 coins would vary from pristine looking to beat to heck. Just because the beating happened at the mint does not make it a coin someone would pay MS68 money for.

As to this coin, it is beat up, no question, but it also has full steps. If full steps designation is available, does the coin have to be MS 60 or above, or alternatively, does 6 full steps mean the coin can be no less than MS 60, so a beat up coin that would be AU is now mint state because of the FS strike?