Coin Grading Fundamentals
Learning how to grade coins can often be intimidating to the novice coin collector. But it’s really not nearly as difficult as it may first seem. Some collectors take to it quite naturally, but those who don’t can get the hang of it in relatively quickly with just a bit of practice.
When it comes down to it, coin grading is an art, as opposed to a science. In fact, you’ll often find that two very experience graders will have differing opinions Swarovski Crystal Gold Butterfly Mint In Box W Coa the grade of a particular coin. So the ability to accurately grade coins, is just something that comes with experience and practice.
The primary requirement for becoming proficient at grading coins is a good eye for detail. And the way to develop the eye is to look at a lot of coins. In this way you’ll start to recognize the wear patterns for different types of coins in different grades.
You’ll notice that a coin grade has two parts, a name and a number, for example MS-65, or Mint-State 65. The names, in order from best to worst, are Mint State (MS), About Uncirculated (AU), Extremely Fine (EF or XF), Very Fine (VF), Fine (F), Very Good (VG), Good (G), About Good (AG), Fair, and Poor.
The numbers come from the Swarovski Silver Crystal Retired Christmas Tree Sheldon Scale, and help to make finer distinctions when it comes to coin grading. For example, let’s say you have three Mercury Dimes, one MS-63, one MS-64, and one MS-65. All three coins are in mint condition, however, the MS-65 coin is the best specimen of the three.
The other requirement for coin grading, besides having a good eye, is having a good book for visual reference. I’d suggest starting out with The Official ANA Grading Standards, which is put out by the American Numismatics Association.
One note of caution regarding buying and selling coins, particularly high-end coins. If you are going to invest a lot of money in a coin, or sell a coin that is worth a lot of money, unless you have a lot of experience, and are highly confident in your grading ability, you should use a professional third party grader, either the PCGS or the NGC. There are unscrupulous dealers and collectors who will over-grade coins when selling and under-grade coins when buying. Using a third party will protect you financially.
Tom Busch writes more about coin grading on his coin collecting blog.
