Guess The Grade 1910 Barber Half.

Spots appear even worse in hand. I'm returning it. Grade is pf-62.

Truthfully, a look at the ebay listing yields seller pics (looks like good scans) that seem to show the look of the coin rather accurately. I don't think there was much surprise here:


Additionally, a quick search shows it was sold by Heritage two years ago... with additional pics to consider:
https://coins.ha.com/itm/barber-hal...ption-071515

Aside from that... depending on how deep those spots are burrowed in, the coin has to be considered a candidate to be should be worked on/NCSed. Of course, you also have to figure someone considered this in the 40, 50 years since ppl have been getting high on Jeweluster, etc. A couple of those spots left of Liberty and in the stars on the rev. may have penetrated to where there's pitting underneath which would look worse if the dark was stripped off... In fact, there's that one spot on the center of the neck that does look like a recessed pockmark (perhaps a decades-old removal that eventually toned). Perhaps, though, a skilled enough doctor judiciously "minimize" without totally stripping and exposing flat, rough "matte" spots.

There are also notable areas of hairlining. Overall, seeing the better pics, coin should have gotten the infamous 61.

Never base your decision on the TrueView photos. They are anything but "true".

These statements are both hitting at the same issue/effect, methinks.

That said, how much eye appeal is there really with the spots (some maybe deep), the intermittent haze and the hairline patches? Yeah, certainly has SOME eye appeal... but it's a Proof - it almost HAS to by definition.

inquiry minds want to know...time to post grade?

So it occurs to me now that the pics (besides the TrueView) that the seller provided in the ebay listing (164082418754) are simply the Heritage Dec. 2019 pics cropped with the contrast heavily cranked.

Let's compare the pics chronologically. First was obviously the TrueView, #2 the raised contrast Heritage pics from two years ago and #3 OP/buyer's current photos (cropped and tweaked contrast a bit on for sharpness):




I don't see anything having increased or spread between Heritage's Dec. 2019 pics and the buyer's pics now. You can make the case that some additional "stuff" grew between TrueView at the time of encapsulation... but is that just an effect of their photography? Not sure... I look, for example, at the pit on the neck - which doesn't seem to have much color to it in the Heritage or OP's pics - and in the TrueView it looks dark.