1882 Shield Nickel For Grading

Vf20 smoothed.

Sellers photos seem like they have played with either lighting or Photoshop to mess with the surfaces they look "played with" like they are trying to hide how rough they really are.

F15 as grade likely details or even worse damaged

Glad it wasn't as bad as we first feared with corrosion. Dirt is easy enough to make disappear. Scratches don't appear too bad you say, depending on light direction and the photo lights enhance them, I get that it can be tough when trying to shoot a photo where they show up or don't show up. I think you need to add a diffuser to one of the lights (the side that is causing the reflections) so in the last photo towards the 12:00 side, that may help. A few simple tissue papers over the lamp may do the trick. (don't start a fire though).

I'd say my grade stays about the same as VF examples usually have more dentils showing on the reverse and some details in the cuts on most of the stars. So still at F15 now no details, nice example too.

looking at those scratches on the reverse they are sweeping in an arc almost always a sign of some kind of cleaning/wiping using something that scratched the surfaces

F12 details