What are the grades?

These are photographs of two of the same type coin (not the same coin). These are separate 1976-S Uncirculated Silver Eisenhower Dollars, one graded by each of the two major grading services. What are the grades of these two coins?

Please view the attached images to get a better look at these coins.

-True Money!

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Permalink Reply by True Money on April 13, 2010 at 12:15am

Nice catch Stan. I could not crop out the entire rims of the coins as they also pertain to the grade. I am interested in what everyone thinks about the coins with unbiased decisions regarding the grading services. I feel these coins have been fairly graded by each grading company. What grades do you think these coins achieved?

-True Money!

Stan said:

Not concerning the grade, but i believe the bottom coin was graded by NGC:)

Regards,
Stan

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Permalink Reply by Stan on April 13, 2010 at 12:34am

well the top coin has a better strike then the bottom one. However I like the bottom coin better and would say top coin MS64 Bottom MS 65

Regards,
Stan

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Permalink Reply by george palmer on April 13, 2010 at 12:40am

I LIKE IKE BUT IT IS BIG BUT NICE FEEL GOOD IN YOUR HAND LIKE A COIN THE BOTTOM ONE LOOK NICER THEN THE TOP ONE

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Permalink Reply by Steve on April 13, 2010 at 9:02am

I think the obverse of the top coin has a better strike...more detail in the hair, lines on the forehead and around the eye, and a sharper ear.
The reverse of the bottom coin looks best to me.

Top coin - PCGS MS 68
Bottom coin NGC MS 67

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Permalink Reply by True Money on April 14, 2010 at 1:41am

Thank you for your grading opinions. Here are the coins in the slabs.

Top coin

Bottom coin

I added the five grades given for the top coin to get 332 and took the average of the five grades to get 66.4 (MS66). The five grades given for the bottom coin came to 329 and averaged at 65.8 (MS65 or MS65+ with the new "+" system). So, the five of you who graded these coins gave them the following:

top: MS66
bottom: MS65 or MS65+

You all collectively graded the top coin correctly! Congratulations!

I have to agree that these coins were graded correctly by each grading service PCGS and NGC. Apart from the toning on the coin graded by NGC, the only defining difference is the evidence of contact marks that are more evident on the coin graded by PCGS. Notice that the cheek of Eisenhower and the moon have obvious contact marks on the coin graded by PCGS. The coin graded by NGC is much cleaner in the contact marks grading criteria, hence the more deserving higher grade.

Thank you for participating in this grading discussion. Please leave more comments as I will report these results to my friend.

-True Money!

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Permalink Reply by Larry on April 14, 2010 at 6:55pm

Hi, Steve & Lurein,
Thanks for the tips. One of these days, when I get the time, I plan on sitting down and going through my bags of Ikes. Hopefully, I can get my 14 yr. old daughter and 12 yr. old son to help and get them interested. I have a very large coin collection and every time I try to catalog it, it gets harder and harder to do. One of the dilemnas is whether or not to go the graded slab way and if I do, where do I start and stop. I'm thinking of getting the 4 coin gold eagle, buffalo, and plats, which I have in proof & unc., for 2008, graded as they seem to be appreciating the fastest. I'm still p'o'd at the mint for the way they handled 2008; I bought at all the higher prices and the plats still haven't come back yet. Sorry to digress but when I sought through the Ikes, if I can still see, I'll let you know what I find. By the way, I'm surprised that the NGC Ike graded so high; I prefer the top one. Take care for now, Larry

Steve W said:

Larry could have Christmas in April with a little luck!

True Money said:
Larry,

You can find clipped planchets, off-center strikes, double and triple strikes, and other errors in the bags you have. Be careful handling them.

I can assure you that neither of these coins has ever been cleaned as I saw them in the original mint packaging before they were submitted for grading.

-True Money!

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Permalink Reply by True Money on April 15, 2010 at 12:44pm

I hope everyone got to see the results (above) to this grading discussion. I will be posting another grading discussion soon in regards to a Kennedy Half Dollar graded by NGC. Until then, Happy Grading!

-True Money!