Grading 101

[Allan Ong]

I know practice is a large part of it, but what's the best way to learn how to grade coins? I've mostly been relying on a 3rd party grade but from reading other posts, I think I should learn how to grade my coins as well...

[Grumps]

Pick up a copy of ANA GRADING STANDARDS FOR UNITED STATES COINS 6th edition. Then look at lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of coins and compare them to what you see and learn from the book. Then when you think you have a good handle on it, go out and look at lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of more coins. It just takes time. The book will help you though.

 

Greg

[supertooth]

Allan-----Grumps [Greg] has it ABSOLUTELY correct. Do it exactly that way and you will never regret it one bit. Learn first---read the book---look at thousands of coins---repeat that process. Then, just maybe, you might be ready to buy something. Bob [supertooth]

[Bruceswar]

Yes the book is good to a point. I recently got the book, but I know how to grade from when I started. I never rely on Slabs to tell me what coin X is worth, I decide for myself.

[DaveG]

Allan,

 

What sort of coins are you interested in learning to grade?

 

Uncirculated, circulated, gold, silver, etc.?

[Allan Ong]

Uncirculated, mostly. Though some circulated coins (Franklins and some Walkers)

[DaveG]

I think it's very hard to learn to grade uncirculated coins from books. (It's a lot easier to see wear from a picture - it's a lot harder to learn how to judge luster when you can't rotate the coin under a light.) It also depends on whether you're grading moderns (like state quarters) or older coins (like Franklins and Walkers).

 

You might want to take a look at the PCGS Grading Guide (but make sure to get the first edition - it's larger and has better pictures; it's sometimes available on eBay) or I believe that NGC has published a book on grading uncirculated coins (I haven't seen it, so I don't know how it is).

 

Probably the best thing to do would be to take the grading course at the ANA summer seminar in Colorado Springs. If you aren't able to spend the time to go to Colorado for a week, I think that the ANA offers courses are some bigger shows (like the Summer ANA Convention) or, there's a course right before the GSNA show in May in Somerset, NJ.

[James_OldeTowne]

I would suggest that the best way to learn how to grade UNC coins is to first learn how to grade AU coins. I state this because the most difficult skill to acquire is distinguishing strict AU-58 from MS-62. Sadly, third-party grading is erratic in this area! What will discover is that certification companies have put a lot of what are really AU-58 coins into MS holders, and those coins should be carefully avoided as comparison coins for your education.

 

Also, by looking at AU-58, you'll learn where the high-point rub occurs first on coins, and that is important because the high-points that receive a touch of wear first are the same high-points that are most frequently weakly struck - a key determinant in figuring out how UNC a coin is.

 

Personally, I would strongly recommend you don't worry about grades of MS-65 and up for now. You need to get bedrock-solid knowledge of the AU - MS-64 range first. It's kind of like learning the fundamentals of baseball; if you FIRST learn those grades inside and out, then you will always have a firm reference point for figuring out other grades.

 

James

[Allan Ong]

Probably the best thing to do would be to take the grading course at the ANA summer seminar in Colorado Springs. If you aren't able to spend the time to go to Colorado for a week, I think that the ANA offers courses are some bigger shows (like the Summer ANA Convention) or, there's a course right before the GSNA show in May in Somerset, NJ.

 

Do you have any info on this event? What's the GSNA?

[TomB]

The GSNA is the Garden State Numismatic Association and I am a member of this group and have had a table at the annual three-day convention for a number of years. The show is typically held in May or June and is well attended. As has been suggested, if you can learn what an AU coin will look like then you can find MS pieces. Grading MS coins from a book is near impossible, so I would go out and look at thousands of slabbed examples and remember that the slabbed grade is an opinion only.