ozjohn

There's that semicircular patch under the chin could be due to anything . I think I have said this before. When I look at my silver bits and pieces they start to tarnish (tone) after a month or so. How a 100 year old coin put away remain bright and shiny without some form of cleaning beats me. A obviously cleaned coin with abrasion marks is certainly devalued however a bright shiny 100 year coin attracts little comment for the most part while a toned coin excite some collectors although this is corrosion silver being attacked by oxygen and sulfur in the atmosphere in exactly the same way as iron and steel rust. Perhaps collectors are too picky with non abrasive cleaning such as Goddards or the Al foil/ bicarbonate methods of cleaning, I have seen coins with very heavy toning come to life with judicious dipping and IMO should not be considered as devalued in some way. Having said that any cleaning should be aproached with caution.

The coin attached is judged by PCGS as AU cleaned. I had a good look at it and cannot see any obvious evidence of cleaning. I would be interested if any one can ID what made PCGS come to this conclusion. In any case not a bad coin for KGV,

Another fake being offered as genuine.

IMO I think the Sheldon system is better as it allows for finer grading classifications. It would be helpful if someone with professional grading experience to outline their methods in detail. I can remember PCGS had a video that went through the process of the grading procedure but lacked the finer detail. I also remember a coin on this video being handled with bare fingers which I thought would be a no no. If anyone has had professional grading experience please share it with us. My priorities would be wear, damage and strike. Here wear and strike can be difficult to determine He The other thing I look at the edge milling and rim as they can be the first to show any wear due to circulation.

Had another look at both coins on PCGS verification. For the first coin on the obverse there is damage to the King's forehead and a scratch on the King's neck extending into the adjacent field. Also the strike is weaker and the hint of wear on the Kings beard on the side of the face Scuffing perhaps some wear extends up the King's neck and on the eyebrow. As for the reverse it is a good strike with luster. However there is a disfiguring mark in the field above the top RHS of the shield. The second coin, the one I have. The obverse is a good strike with the King's ear fully struck. On the king's neck there is a little scuffing near the point of the truncation and several small scratches in the field behind the King's neck. For the reverse again a good strike and toned. Regarding the luster the coin in hand has good luster

I'll take another look.

Toning? Not sure if your comments account for a MS 64 for the top coin as against a MS 62 for the bottom coin. The one thing required of a grading service is consistency.

Again a comment on a familiar topic. Attached are two PCGS photographs from their PGCS's verification web site, both 1933 half crowns. Coin # 37007246 is a coin I own, while coin# 45189418 is a coin I saw on Ebay that has been graded by PCGS. On looking at both coin's photographs on the PCGS verification site IMO coin # 3700246 is a better coin although being graded by PCGS as MS 62 as against MS64 for coin #45189418. I understand that the coins were submitted at different times but the whole idea of professional coin grading is to provide a consistent result that collectors and investors can rely upon. Have PCGS grading standards fakken? To digress some coins submitted to NGC and PCGS are declared as cleaned and described as AU features etc. with out citing any examples it can be hard to se why they have made this opinion while other coins that seem to have obvious cleaning marks on them indicating some form of cleaning seem to receive a grading while coins submitted PCGS that have been dipped are deemed by PCGS as not cleaned Your comments are invited

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Another coin I noticed with the pattern struck in line. This time an 1899 florin CGS 60. As remarked before this damage has been noticed before on other coins from Victoria to George VI.

Only ever brought the silver proof versions and not many of those either.

Xmas day forecast for Brisbane, 30 deg. C and sunny.

Merry Christmas to one and all from Australia. May your collections grow in 2025.

Just reached Alotau, PNG on a cruise from Brisbane. Very hot and humid. Back in Brisbane 5/12.

Saw the coins on Google headlines. An impressive hoard.