After returning my previous 09-S VDB because I thought it was borderline RB, I picked up this coin. Clearly this is an RB example, and fairly clean except for the rim nick on the obverse. What's your take on this coin? I would guess it's at least 60RB, but as the last coin in question demonstrated, I appreciate the expertise on this forum! Thanks so much!



Rim nick is at 11 o'clock


The mint mark and VDB check out to be genuine

i dont like the color

From the pic I think it would fall in the range from EF-40 to AU-50, its hard to tell. I could maybe give it a solid AU-50 if I could hold it. By the way that is a beautiful coin. I need one of those for my book plus the other 1909's

for the mostpart the coin has unc details.. but the greenish tint is not right... might be covered in pvc... its hard to say... the details are there but the color is not...the thing that scares me about raw high grade high dollar coins is... why is it not in a slab? This would be one of the coins i would recommend that be slabbed. Usually what happens is that there is something wrong with it that you cant see well... old cleaning... pvc damage... something like that.. not saying they are all like that... but a lot of them are

Well...I'll just say my photo doesn't exactly capture the right color (toned RB), and there is no circulation wear on this coin.
In fact, aside from the rim ding, this has no marks in focus areas and only a couple of hairlines visible under 8X on each side. I'll give it a minimum MS-62 RB.
Ironically, it's in noticeably better shape than the previous example. It's is in a no-name slab, and I'll let you know when I get this reslabbed by PCGS.
It's a beautiful coin...I'm keeping it. Thanks for dropping by.

Like I said if I seen it in person I most likely would rate it higher. But as the LostDutchman said its the color that keeps me from going to MS.

But MS isn't a color designation...it's a grade of condition. PCGS even grades BN coins into MS-67. In this case, I just don't see the circulation wear, even at 8X.
My photos aside, I'll revisit this when it comes back graded, thanks.

if the coin isnt the right color it will not go in a slab... they will bodybag it if its not the right color... its hard to tell from the pics... the true test is to send it in as you have stated