Mint State Trade Dollars With Chopmark(S)?

Sel, I believe the OP is referring to Trade dollars in UNC TPG holders that are chopmarked.

It's important to keep in mind that grading between UNC and AU is an evaluation of the level of wear a coin has, not what actually happens to the coin during it's life. So if I were to break a roll of fresh coins from the mint and handle them, they are technically circulated, but if sent in to get graded they would almost certainly attain an MS grade because they lack wear.

You can apply this same logic to Trade dollars of the 1800's. These dollars were shipped, weighed, and counterstamped in bulk. If there is only one counterstamp, there isn't a whole lot of direct handling beyond the actual application of the counterstamp. One can surmise that the coins that were shipped overseas, counterstamped, then stored for 100 years or so can still be "uncirculated".

Now whether or not chopmarks are considered "damage" is another debate. Personally I wouldn't want to consider it the same as an unstamped specimen, but I also wouldn't consider it the same as a deeply gouged or graffitied specemin. I like the way PCGS does it by denoting it as details but also assigning it a full numeric grade.

UNC coinage shows no sign of discernible wear, so, theoretically it could have fallen under the punch of a merchant and still not show any noticeable wear. Although, I don't subscribe to this notion.

Thanks for all the replies.

I hadn't considered the possibility of the coins staying bagged except for a quick chopmark or two, then being rebagged for the future. Makes sense though.