Sacagawea 2000-P 1$ Coin with graffiti (Y-cut on tail of eagle) 1 1

[Sandon]

    You must understand that the types of occurrences during the manufacturing process that can result in a significant "mint error" are quite limited, while the forms of damage or abuse that can befall a coin after it is struck are infinite.  Coins mass produced for circulation receive no special handling.  They are struck on high speed presses and ejected in a stream into a container where they are hit by the coins that fall in after them and then are dumped into bags containing thousands or even tens of thousands of coins that are all in contact with each other.  (The U.S. Mint has videos of the process on its website at usmint.gov.) The heavy bags are stacked in piles on top of each other and packed into trucks for distribution to the Federal Reserve, which in turn distributes them to member banks.  At some point most of them pass through counting and roll wrapping machines. The coins at this point are still "uncirculated", but most of them have picked up numerous nicks, scratches, and other forms of damage from coin-to-coin contact and from machinery.  This is why most uncirculated coins taken directly from rolls or bags would likely grade no better than MS 64 by current standards and why most serious collectors are willing to pay a premium for coins in higher grades that have a minimum of blemishes. 

   Once coins enter circulation, they are subject to even more forms of damage, such as from being mixed in people's pockets with other coins, keys, and other objects, from being caught in machinery, dropped, run over by vehicles, used to pry things open, as screwdrivers, to test tools, or even being intentionally altered to resemble mint errors. They are also subject to discoloration and corrosion from substances to which they are exposed.  We nevertheless see on a daily basis coins that have suffered various forms of obvious damage that are claimed to be "mint errors". 

   I can't see how a 2000-P Sacagawea dollar (over 767 million minted) with a scrape in the eagle's tail could be seen as "cool" or in any way desirable. If that is what you like, you may collect such pieces, but don't pay more than face value for them or expect them ever to appreciate.

   I don't know from what books or other resources you have been learning about coins but would recommend those identified on the following forum topics:

 

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/24/2024 at 5:34 PM, zadok said:

...as you respected ol' hoopster...yea i will remember that...all in time....

Oldhoopster was special. He gave as good as he got. He was a worthy adversary, a contender, and a consummate gentleman. Neither of us stooped to the level of a junkyard dog. You would do well to honor his memory by similarly engaging in more productive pursuits. 

[zadok]

On 3/24/2024 at 8:29 PM, Henri Charriere said:

Oldhoopster was special. He gave as good as he got. He was a worthy adversary, a contender, and a consummate gentleman. Neither of us stooped to the level of a junkyard dog. You would do well to honor his memory by similarly engaging in more productive pursuits. 

...u r none of those things...all in time....

[Mustacheman]

On 3/24/2024 at 5:42 PM, Sandon said:

    You must understand that the types of occurrences during the manufacturing process that can result in a significant "mint error" are quite limited, while the forms of damage or abuse that can befall a coin after it is struck are infinite.  Coins mass produced for circulation receive no special handling.  They are struck on high speed presses and ejected in a stream into a container where they are hit by the coins that fall in after them and then are dumped into bags containing thousands or even tens of thousands of coins that are all in contact with each other.  (The U.S. Mint has videos of the process on its website at usmint.gov.) The heavy bags are stacked in piles on top of each other and packed into trucks for distribution to the Federal Reserve, which in turn distributes them to member banks.  At some point most of them pass through counting and roll wrapping machines. The coins at this point are still "uncirculated", but most of them have picked up numerous nicks, scratches, and other forms of damage from coin-to-coin contact and from machinery.  This is why most uncirculated coins taken directly from rolls or bags would likely grade no better than MS 64 by current standards and why most serious collectors are willing to pay a premium for coins in higher grades that have a minimum of blemishes. 

   Once coins enter circulation, they are subject to even more forms of damage, such as from being mixed in people's pockets with other coins, keys, and other objects, from being caught in machinery, dropped, run over by vehicles, used to pry things open, as screwdrivers, to test tools, or even being intentionally altered to resemble mint errors. They are also subject to discoloration and corrosion from substances to which they are exposed.  We nevertheless see on a daily basis coins that have suffered various forms of obvious damage that are claimed to be "mint errors". 

   I can't see how a 2000-P Sacagawea dollar (over 767 million minted) with a scrape in the eagle's tail could be seen as "cool" or in any way desirable. If that is what you like, you may collect such pieces, but don't pay more than face value for them or expect them ever to appreciate.

   I don't know from what books or other resources you have been learning about coins but would recommend those identified on the following forum topics:

 

I understand what you are saying but the point I was trying to make is that I wish scratches under certain circumstances would be removed from the evaluation because it just doesn’t make sense to mark the grade of a coin less than what it was just because of one particular scratch. This scratch has really no effect on the piece other than being kind of cool how it was done. 
 

I know exactly how coin collecting works and unfortunately it is a little boring how grading is done. Having everything be in MS 69 conditions is what people want. They want a full Red no scratch on anything coin that has survived for as long as it did in circulation or Mint condition, uncirculated. Quite boring if you ask me but hey… give them what they want and they’ll go from there.

[powermad5000]

On 3/25/2024 at 8:42 AM, Mustacheman said:

I know exactly how coin collecting works and unfortunately it is a little boring how grading is done.

You may maintain this ideology if you wish. I find grading quite interesting. It is in fact very difficult and two different sets of eyes looking at the same coin typically will result in two different grades as everyone's eye sees something a little different. And most people struggle with grading. I find it interesting on how in MS the number of factors to look at actually increases as greater scrutiny is involved as MS coins by their definition have no observable wear with 10 points of the Sheldon scale now in play. If you really want to twist your brain, throw in + grades and * grades in the mix. I still have not figured out where the thin line comes into play regarding those and when they are awarded to a coin.

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/25/2024 at 11:58 PM, powermad5000 said:

.... I still have not figured out where the thin line comes into play regarding those and when they are awarded to a coin.

Me neither.  I cannot tell anyone what's supposed to be on a high tier coin. I can only tell you what shouldn't be there. An MS-67 in my series?  I know it when I see it.