You are right (of course). You have them in your possession: so you would know (not me). I just thought I would make a post to acknowledge your friend's generosity. After a quick glance, I saw that they were well centred & appeared to be GEM UNC. I now see that the bottom note has had the top left corner bumped & folded. On second look the notes do look like they have been handled a bit.
The "Tips for Collectors" is referring to "the rare 1973 replacements," or the "*AA(high numbers)" not the regular *AA like yours. If your notes have edges that are "not sharp" then this would indicate slight handling (like the bumped corner) and could mean your note could get an UNC 62 or 60 from BCS rather than an UNC 64 (or higher).