1930-S SLQ NGC MS-67* CAC Approved!

A scan can be somewhat weak on luster, but this one looks void of it. He has other scans of other high grade slqs that display the luster quite well.

From what I've seen, the star is usually given to coins with blazing satin-like luster beneath colorful eye-catching toning...either that or they will give it to a coin that has proof-like qualities on one side.

Also, I thought that the strike starts playing a more important role in the upper MS range(66-68), where-as this one looks extremely weak overall. I don't doubt it's an MS coin, but his pictures just don't highlight any of what should be 'show-stopping' eye appeal on a coin with all of those bells and whistles.

My first thought was, "There's no way this is the original coin in that slab."

So, I did what any curious numismatist would do - I headed for Heritage.

I found the slab from a 2008 auction at Heritage. Here are the auction pics:





It's the same coin. The two major pickups I used to determine this are: First, the "splotch" of darker toning above IN on the obverse. Second, the little "spike" of lighter toning extending down/left from the eagle's tail on the reverse. These are both toning features, not physical ones, and therefore would be difficult to match on even a carefully-prepared replacement coin.

The large difference in brightness between the two sets of images can be blamed on differing imaging technique. This is a pretty important lesson for interpreting photographs of coins - differences in "look" of this magnitude are easy with different combinations of lighting and camera. I would not be surprised if the coin was toned just as darkly in 2008 when Heritage imaged it.

Another comment - I looked at a number of 1930-S's in MS67 as part of this process. All had a lackluster strike. Even the ones designated Full Head were weak about the shield and eagle's breast. I still don't agree with the grade assigned this coin, but in the context of a generally weakly-struck issue, I can see it happening. To an extent, one must grade coins on a curve when considering strike.

I did read in my SLQ reference guide that the 30-S usually has a weak strike on the obverse and a strong strike on the reverse, except for the breast area. This SLQ seems to prove what I just quoted.