1912 S Liberty Nickel

Agree, solid F-12 and the marks are probably at an acceptable level given the amount of wear. It appears to have escaped harmful cleaning and the overall detail is strong. I've seen examples of this coin in similar grade where E PLURIBUS UNUM was almost too faint to read. This one appears above average for strike.

VG-10, not enough detail in the hair for a Fine grade.

Thanks for all the replies. I really wanted to see how others were grading Liberty nickels. They are pretty much my main coin. It appears that all of us have bought the same book, "The official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States coins" heck of a title for such a small book.

At any rate, I agree that this coin is an F12/F15 and PCGS agrees with us as well. This is in fact a PCGS slabbed coin F15. The difference I think that got the F15 was the I in Liberty is not weak and the letters are all very clear.

I posted another coin, the 1896 Liberty nickel. This coin is also a slabbed PCGS coin. Please check back on that coin for my response.

I would peg it at a VG actually. I do not think that there is enough detail left in liberty's hair to get it up to F.

Clinton

Firstly, I did not purchase this coin as an F15. That is just what is typed on the slab by PCGS. As I am rather a very cheap person I looked at this coin several years ago and came up with a number I was willing to pay for it. I believe I did pay about the going rate for a coin in F12 at the time. Secondly, this coin IS within the range of F or above. As with all grading which is subjective, some people would grade it higher and some lower. PCGS believes it to be F15 and I agree with the F12/15. Anybody grading it in VG territory is just simply incorrect. There is no Liberty nickel that looks like this one, graded below F but I do respect peoples subjective viewpoint. If you buy this coin you can break it out of the slab and call it a G and nobody will care but you still would have purchased this coin at about the going rate of an F12/15.

Here is a link to a website I use from time to time.

http://www.libertynickels.org/grading.php?

Scroll to the bottom to see an F15 coin. There are of course some tradeoffs between my coin and theirs. A tiny bit more detail on the obverse for them, mine has the word Liberty far bolder though, and a tiny bit more detail on the reverse for mine. It is give and take at these grades.