Mercury and Barber dimes

At all of the bigger shows (ANA, FUN, etc.), Mark Saltzberg does collectors a service by giving his opinion on coins free-of-charge. Never pass up the chance to have him look at coins I think have a chance at upgrade. An almost sure thing for 68FB in my mind was a 1935 Mercury I'd bought in a third-world slab. Sure enough, Mark saw 68*FB in it. Image attached. At FUN a few weeks ago, I got a surprise when 67+FB came out of nowhere on a '40S Mercury. Image attached. Another pleasant upgrade was an 1895S Barber 10C that was in a beat-up PCGS rattler as a 62. Now a 63+ and deservedly so. Image attached. Also had Mark look at a '40D Merc that I feel is a marginal 68FB. He agreed it was close, and when it hit the grading room, apparently thought felt it was just short of the cusp. So, while the coin upgraded to 67+*FB, I was a wee disappointed. Only real disappointment was Marks's assessment on my 1926D PCGS 66+FB. He said that the coin was technically a 67FB, but that the obverse toning holds back. Image attached. Any thoughts on this one?

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.