While appraising coins has become a field requiring licensed individuals, one of the key aspects of a coin’s value is its grading. While there are different methods different appraisers use to determine coin grades, the system devised by Dr. William Shelby is one of the most often used in the United States. The coin grades system is based on a scale of 0 to 70, with 70 being absolutely perfect mint condition and a 0 meaning it may be recognizable as being a coin at one time.

While determining an exact grade requires experience as well as skill but for general purposes, a person can get a reasonable idea of the coin grades in their collection with a magnifying glass and a little understanding of the coin grades mean. It is rare that a coin will rate a grade of Mint State (MS) 70 although it may be uncirculated, will have ever so slight markings from being placed in a roll and shipped to banks where it makes its way to the grocery store.

The odds of finding a coin graded MS 67 or 68 in a roll of coins from the bank or store is about 100,000 to one. Almost Uncirculated (AU) coin grades are listed as AU 50 to 60 and while they will look perfect on the surface, looking closely at the highest points on the coin there will be slight visible signs of wear.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 11:49 am and is filed under coin grades. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.