Grading Test #1 - Which is the highest grade?

[TheGoldSovereign]

Please vote for the highest grade coin, and also post an opinion for each coin's grade in the comments!

I appreciate the images are NOT the best, as I'm just testing some lighting setups for slabbed coins (pretty difficult). However the images are consistent so can be judged fairly at least.

 

1851

1861

1871

[Fathallazf]

1851: AU53

1861: AU58

1871: AU55

[augur]

Problem is that lustre and wear of the kiss curl ate difficult to judge from this angle. 

1861 seems to have full lustre across the fields but also most wear on the hair. MS61-62

1871 naturally a good contender for a high grade and little wear but hard to say of highly reflective fields or some wear AU58-MS62

1851 work fields but not worn hair AU53-AU55

... all assuming that the shield bears no nasty surprises since the grades are composites of obverse and reverse 

[sovereignsteve]

Assuming the lighting and photo set up is the same for all coins.

Seems that I'm the only one who prefers the 1851.

The wear is the least of the 3 but it has a couple of marks that don't detract imo

The 1861 possibly has the best lustre (difficult to tell in photos unless brilliant) but it seems a bit uneven and blotchy for my taste.

The 1871 rivals the 51 for wear but the field is dull and lifeless, possibly cleaned at some time.

They are all around AU58 give or take, based on wear and depending on the true lustre on the coins.

I'm sure they will be some surprises as it's extremely difficult to judge field lustre on most photos.

[Kman]

All very nice, id guess all AU55 and above but I don't know much about grading or what to look out for beyond hair detail 

51 looks the best, the other two look a little flatter hair wise and grittier on the fields but maybe that's just the pictures

[Seasider]

39 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

Seems that I'm the only one who prefers the 1851.

Not the only one - and I did vote before scrolling down so it was not a sympathy vote.  I am not sure about it though: the marks put me off.

Personally I thought the 1861 was the least good - and at the moment it seems to be winning. which is why I should not get coins graded.

[JunkBond]

Voted before reading comments too.

1851

[TheGoldSovereign]

This was just a brilliant set of results for me and I really appreciate the views. I know photos can change a coin's look, but all of the comments are very valid and mirror what I see in hand.

@sovereignsteve Yes I also prefer the 1851 over the others, in hand it's a very nice coin and is the cleanest in terms of marks by a long way. Only under a scope can I see the faint cleaning marks, but the other two coins also exhibit the same.

 

Time for the shock:

1851 - UNC Details (cleaned)

1861 - MS62

1871 - MS64

 

To be clear I didn't grade any of these coins I bought them, I've been buying lots of slabbed coins over the last month and my personal opinion is there is absolutely no consistency in what I've acquired so I will not be wasting my money grading any of my coins right now. 

I will improve on my slab photography for the next test!

 

[sovereignsteve]

Ok we can't see the reverses but that 64 is a real shocker imo

62 for the 1861 looks generous too. Well it was ngc😉