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Posted 09/21/2011 06:13 am
Because those are not huge nicks in the neck. And a couple of nicks do not turn something uncirculated (portraying no circulation wear) into something NOT uncirculated. A couple of nicks and a couple couple tiny scratches in a few spots are not indicative of circulation. They are an indication that the coin spent time in a bag with other coins, as Morgan dollars did in their early lives.
When I first looked at it the other day I thought "I'd go 64 on it. It's clean, but not clean enough to go 65, I don't think."
You have to understand the grading scale. And it's exactly that: a SCALE. When talking uncirculated you are now on a scale of 0 to 10 (MS-60 to MS-70). At MS-60 there is quite an allowable amount of bag contact marks and handling marks. As you move up from one number to the next, the allowable amount reduces. When you get to 64 there is a very noticeable reduction in contact marks, but there is still a small amount allowable. What this coin evidences in contact marks is what I'd expect to see on a 64. In other words, not a lot. And when you say "not a lot" that means "a few". When you get to a 65 there are even fewer. The highest grade I've personally seen is a couple examples of MS-67 and there is a HUGE difference. On the other side of the coin (pun intended) an MS-60 can have "quite a few".
There's a bit more that goes into it, but that's a really short version.
Hope this helps,
Steve
When I first looked at it the other day I thought "I'd go 64 on it. It's clean, but not clean enough to go 65, I don't think."
You have to understand the grading scale. And it's exactly that: a SCALE. When talking uncirculated you are now on a scale of 0 to 10 (MS-60 to MS-70). At MS-60 there is quite an allowable amount of bag contact marks and handling marks. As you move up from one number to the next, the allowable amount reduces. When you get to 64 there is a very noticeable reduction in contact marks, but there is still a small amount allowable. What this coin evidences in contact marks is what I'd expect to see on a 64. In other words, not a lot. And when you say "not a lot" that means "a few". When you get to a 65 there are even fewer. The highest grade I've personally seen is a couple examples of MS-67 and there is a HUGE difference. On the other side of the coin (pun intended) an MS-60 can have "quite a few".
There's a bit more that goes into it, but that's a really short version.
Hope this helps,
Steve
