Banknotes with teller stains and counting machine folds - UNC?

I have some low value banknotes in my collection which i keep out of curiosity. These have either single bank teller “indigo finger” counting stains (maybe as well they are potentially printer ink smear) of a nickel size, or a small counting machine nick in the middle. Banknotes otherwise have perfectly sharp corners and pristine surface. 

My question is following. If I would send this banknotes for grading would they be considered UNC in any case, damaged, error or something else? Usually I graded some perfectly crisp banknotes before without any defects at all. 

Thanks a lot in advance

Banknotes with teller counting marks have been in circulation, and are AU at best.

A counting machine nick also makes the note AU in my book, though others may disagree on this one.

Machine nick in my case would also be considered aUNC. We agree on that 100%. How about slight staining (of lets say undetermined origin, not a dirt from fingers, tea or coffee ) with everything else in perfect order? 

xrp

I have some low value banknotes in my collection which i keep out of curiosity. These have either single bank teller “indigo finger” counting stains (maybe as well they are potentially printer ink smear) of a nickel size, or a small counting machine nick in the middle. Banknotes otherwise have perfectly sharp corners and pristine surface. 

 

My question is following. If I would send this banknotes for grading would they be considered UNC in any case, damaged, error or something else? Usually I graded some perfectly crisp banknotes before without any defects at all. ..

I just bumped one of our threads on grading & suggest you look it over.  

The note has been damaged with ink (or stains) so the assigned grade would depend on whether any traces of handling have occurred. Obviously, one would assume some handling has occurred. Certifiers would inspect your note with a loupe & put it over a light box in order to examine & assess the degree of handling. Certifiers critique a note much more harshly than the average collector. I have seen countless threads on a collector being chuffed over a much lower grade than he/she expected. 

We collectors tend to forget that certifiers are also looking for a perfectly centred note & perfect “registry” (this means that the design on the front matches exactly the design on the back in terms of position. Any slight variation deducts points & I can tell you that not all notes are created that well!  

Once that is done, then it would get an assigned grade that reflects the degree of handling. The slightest handling knocks off points from a 70 scale.  If the note has almost no handling, it would probably get Choice UNC 64 EPQ.  (EPQ stands for exceptional paper quality or original unchanged paper).  The Choice Unc 64 grade tends to be the average UNC grade but there are many variations to an uncirculated which the various certifiers favour. I have seen the odd UNC60, 62 & 63 are often assigned to notes with mishandling assigned by PMG or PCGS. Odd numbers (like 63 or 65) typically mean the note is off-register.

Your note could be assessed that high but it would not get an EPQ designation.  If the ink stains are obvious (or slightly distracting) then the ink stains would be mentioned on the back of the note “Stains” or “Ink.”  Such comments are considered “issues” & are typically avoided unless the note is scarce.  ( If you are wishing to trade your notes you should mention that you believe the note to be handled slightly & it has such ink stains just so the swap partner knows what he/she will get. The best bet is a picture of course).

Thanks a lot for reply guys :-)

Even though I have some grade 65 banknotes, I have never bought anything that was graded, crisp and anyhow stained at the same time. I am aware that on ebay there are graded dollars with all kind of ink staining with high grades, but it is obvious that this is money printer ink (e.g black or green) and i can consider that as a true error note (if not handled).

So what I infer from grading guidelines and your posts, dark blue grainy stains like “indigo finger” would lower the grade, but not too significantly, since they somehow prove that there was slight circulation of the banknote. Which is still ok. 

To be honest, for me as a collector centering and registry is not as important and I would never hunt grade 67-70 notes. I am more of a sharp corners and no fold type. In principle, if the banknote is macroscopically fine i am fine too.