1916 Barber

MS-64 IMO

Why the significant difference in color between the obverse and reverse photos? Not that it matters for a grading opinion .... just wondering why the distraction.

My thoughts on grade .... please accept these as words from a novice who has no detailed knowledge of this series ... just using general grading standards to judge ......

Obverse Observations:

The obverse rim damage from 10:00 to 11:00 will cost a few points .... unless that is just an artifact of the photo.

Obverse fields are clean except for the 3 bag hits right of the nose and 2 bag hits below the chin ..... all in all lovely.

TPG take a serious view on 'focal area' defects ..... and in that spirit I suggest the obverse bag hit on the cheek .... minor as it may be .... is a focal area.

I was initially going to pass on the busy neck scratches/marks as original planchet marks ... call them a result of weak strike ... but the solid 13 stars with by and large 6 full petals each say this is also bag damage from rubbing around.

Reverse Observations:

Four obvious (minor) bag hits on the shield .....

Incomplete strike on the upper right corner of the shield .... but this has no affect on grade.

Reverse fields are clean to my eye based on the photo.

Wondering what is going on with the reverse rim ..... 2:00 to 3:00 and 10:00 to 11:00? I'm guessing photography stuff?

Soooo .... assuming the 'rim damage' is not real ..... I say a top-tier TPG will grade this as MS63.

David

Thanks for the analysis I think I'm going to buy this one. Mintage on the 1916-P was only 1.788 million so I think they may be trading for a discount relative to scarcity as well as what appears to be a discounted price relative to grade.

There may be a trace of rub on the obverse, visible as darker color on the cheek, bottom of the neck, and field in front of Liberty's face. There does appear to be some rim damage at 11:00. The horizontal lines on the reverse shield are incomplete at the upper right.

Certainly it's an attractive coin but I'd make sure it came with a return privilege. You may find upon examination that luster is reduced and the coin is actually a high-end AU with distracting rim damage.

I see what Jaobler is seeing, some rub on the devices. From my experience with TPGs and Barber coinage, if the fields are fully lustrous and otherwise MS-64, but there is light rub at the top of devices; they will still call it Mint State, but will dock it a couple of points. So my guess is MS-62 with a ton of eye appeal! This is what some at CU might call "AU-64"