Determining The Value Of Your Coins Using Coin Grades

Coin grades are one of the key factors to determine the value of coins. Coin appraisals should be done by licensed individuals only and each appraiser can choose different methods to determine coin grades. However, a system that was devised by Dr. William Shelby is the most commonly used in the United States. Basically the system uses scale of 0 to 70 where 0 means that it used to be recognizable as a coin and 70 means a coin that is in a perfect mint condition.

Experience and skills are essential to determine coin grades, but in general, a magnifying glass and some knowledge on coin grading are sufficient for a person to determine coin grades in their collection. It is rare for a coin to get a Mint State (MS) 70 grade even if it has never been circulated. It is likely that the coin will have slight markings because of being placed in a roll and transported to banks where in the end it will reach the grocery store.

It was found that finding a coin graded MS 67 or 68 in a roll of coins from the bank or store is not easy. In fact, the odds is about 100,000 to one. The coin grades for this type of coins usually range from 50 to 60. They may look perfect on the surface, but if you look really carefully, you can see visible signs of wear.

Another coin grading system uses English letters. Extremely Fine (EF) is the highest coin grade where it only shows slight wear on the highest points of the coin. The next grade is Very Fine (VF) and it has slight wear on the high points, but all features remain sharp and clear. There may be some degradation on fine features like hair or feathers on the coin. Fine (F) is the worst of the best coin grades. It still has fine features, although some details are gone.

Very Good (VG) generally means the whole design of the coin is weak only showing little details and containing the full rim. Good (G) indicates heavy worn in the design and may contain faint spots, while Almost Good (AG) indicates that parts and dates of the design have been rubbed away although the outline is still recognizable.

Fair is among the worst coin grades, which indicates that the coin is barely discernable. The last grade is Basal state, which indicates that it appears to be a piece of metal and it may be used as a coin at some point.

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