YOU MAKE THE CALL!!!

[jtryka]

Well, to start the new year off right, I decided to hold a grading contest featuring the US Dollar! Included below are 6 coins certified by either NGC, PCGS or ICG (there are 2 from each).

 

Here are the basic rules:

 

You have a number of images of coins (obverse and reverse) and you have to guess the grade that the "professionals" assigned to it (the grading company is also listed). You submit your guesses through PM or e-mail so as not to bias the guesses of others. The scoring goes like this: if you guess either too high or too low, the number of points you were off is your score (so if the coin's grade is MS-63 and you guess MS-65, the score is 2). If there is a designation (FB, FBL, FS, PL, etc) and you miss that part, it will add 1/2 point. So this is like golf, and the lowest score wins. In the event of a tie, I will break it with a random number generated by excel.

 

The contest will end at 5:00 PM Pacific Time (8:00 Eastern Time) on Sunday, January 4. Please send me a PM of your guesses on either the NGC or Numisaddict forums, or by e-mail to jtryka@hotmail.com. The prize for this contest is a 2003-S Proof Sacagawea Dollar! Good Luck everyone and let the game begin!

 

1851-O Obverse (NGC)

1851-O Reverse (NGC)

1888-O Obverse (PCGS)

1888-O Reverse (PCGS)

1927-D Obverse (ICG)

1927-D Reverse (ICG)

1972-S Obverse (ICG)

1972-S Reverse (ICG)

1981-D Obverse (NGC)

1981-D Reverse (NGC)

2002-S Obverse (PCGS)

2002-S Reverse (PCGS)

 

 

[jtryka]

Airplanenut informed me that there was an error in my e-mail address above, so if any of you tried to e-mail a response by was rejected, please try again as it's been fixed. Sorry for any confusion.

[Leothelion]

Did you get my grades, I think I sent them yesterday?

 

Leo

[airplanenut]

Airplanenut informed me that there was an error in my e-mail address above, so if any of you tried to e-mail a response by was rejected, please try again as it's been fixed. Sorry for any confusion.

That means you got my guesses... did I win yet, with a perfect score?

[jtryka]

Yes Leo, I did get your guesses, and you will all know the results tomorrow night! All I can say now is that the leader has a score of 2.5, no perfect scores.

[Weidel Legacy Collection]

I'm curious...how many participants have you gotten so far?

[jtryka]

so far 10 people have replied.

[jtryka]

Ok, we ended up with 12 people participating in the contest, so you all had pretty good odds! For the record, I actually agree with all of the grades assigned from the major grading services, and this was as much an exercise in learning about our own holder bias as it was about grading. I think many of us tend to add or subtract points based on what we think of the grading service, but sometimes that is not the most accurate approach. So here are the assigned grades as well as my comments.

 

1851-O $1 gold: I bought this one raw on e-bay, it graded AU-58 at ICG, and then was crossed to NGC at AU-58.

1888-O: I didn't even know I had this coin, so decided to include it. PCGS graded it MS-64 and I agree.

1927-D: IGC Graded it MS-63, it has the typical weak strike of most Peace dollars, and this is the second one I have owned. I also had one graded MS-63 by PCGS, but I liked this one better, so I sold the other one.

1972-S: ICG graded this one MS-67, and that seems fair to me. I mean the coin never saw circulation, and it is pretty sweet looking. Probably not a modern registry candidate, but a pretty nice coin for under $20.

1981-D: NGC graded this one MS-65, which seems about right to me, again these things never circulated so what could you expect? Again, no registry demand for this one, but still a nice type coin for my registry set for less than $10.

2002-S: I bought this one in 2002, and this was the last coin I submitted to PCGS. They graded it PR-69 DCAM and were nice enough not to leave any fingerprints on the coin.

 

The winner of the 2003-S Sacagawea with a score of 2.5 is WACoinGuy from the Numisaddict boards! He actually guessed 4 of the six correctly! Overally it seems like the Ike and the Sacagawea were the easiest as 7 of the 12 got those both correct, the other for were equally difficult, with only three people getting each one correct. I think you all did a terrific job and I appreciate your participation. Now if you want to talk about these coins or their assigned grades feel free!

 

[DonHeath]

Thanks for the practice. The only coin I didn't quite have a handle on was the first one. MS soft strike or PQ AU. Nice coin.

[dakra]

That gold messed me up. I so much wanted to give it an AU58 but I figured ICG... and settled on an MS62

 

otherwise everything else was close:

MS63 (-1)

MS64 (+1)

MS67 (Correct)

MS65 (Correct)

MS69DCAM (Correct)

 

If it wasn't for that $1 Gold coin, I could have been a contender!

Thanks for having the contest!

 

-Dave

[jom]

If it wasn't for that $1 Gold coin, I could have been a contender!

Thanks for having the contest!

 

Hell, that's the only one I got right I think.

 

jom

[RobertB]

I know that gold dollar got me good!

[jtryka]

The gold dollar is a tough one, as an AU-58, if you guess one grade higher or lower, you are already off by 2 or 3 points! That is a nice coin though, I forget exactly what I paid, but I believe it was fair AU money. Those things are so small though!

[jom]

Those things are so small though!

 

Oh yeah! Ever seen a Fractional Gold coin? You could lose that in a low grade indoor/outdoor carpet.

 

jom

[jtryka]

Yes, I think I have a quarter, and I have no idea how people in California did not lose a weeks pay when the wind blew with those things! The older I get, I have more and more trouble with large coins like dimes and cents! I can only imagine if I had to deal with gold dollars or 3-cent silvers on a regular basis!