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US Coin Grades Explained

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Susanlynn9's Avatar
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 Posted 02/14/2005  08:59 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add Susanlynn9 to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
At the request of Mila_cent, I'm posting this list. If anyone wants to add or make comments, please feel free. Click on the link at the bottom to see the general description of each grade.

Good - G4
Good+ - G6
Very Good - VG8
Very Good+ - VG10
Fine - F12
Fine+ - F15
Very Fine - VF20
Very Fine+ - VF30
Extremely Fine - EF40
Extremely Fine+ - EF45
About Uncirculated - AU50
About Uncirculated+ - AU55
Choice About Uncirculated - AU58
Uncirculated - MS60-MS62
Brilliant Uncirculated - MS63-MS64
Choice Uncirculated - MS65-MS69
Perfect Uncirculated - MS70
Proof - PR60-PR62
Brilliant Proof - PR63-PR64
Choice Proof - PR65-PR69
Perfect Proof - PR70

General Grade Descriptions
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rggoodie's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 02/15/2005  09:24 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rggoodie to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Susan this list was very helpful.
Is there a link or do you have descriptions of how each of these differ.
I an trying to corolate them to the australian Gradings

GRADING For Australian Circulation Type Commonwealth Coins
FDC: “Fleur De Coin” French: Flower of the Die
A Perfect or virtually perfect coin. Fully struck up. No Contact- or other Detracting Marks visible with the naked eye, and only minute superficial imperfections, relating to the manufacturing process rather than any other cause, may be visible under magnification. Fully Lustre or Mint Bloom is present. Toning on Silver coins (if present) must be attractive. Brilliance (Color) on Bronze Coins should be 90% plus. Eye Appeal is outstanding. Rarely available, with most early dates of George V never seen this nice.

Brilliant Uncirculated (BU)
A coin of this grade will show no blemishes or sign of wear. The design and legend will appear sharper than the average, a result of early mintage. Full mint luster will be seen over all the coin, sometimes giving the effect of a proof-like finish.

Also referred to as FDC (Fleur de Coin - flower of the die). Although struck with normal dies, a coin described as BU is pristine, almost prooflike in appearance, being perfectly sharp, absolutely flawless and showing no signs of wear or bag marks. On the US grading scale, such a coin is described as MS-65. Grading at this superior level has become more complex in recent years with distinctions being made in many catalogs between (from highest to lowest state of preservation) - FDC, GEM Uncirculated and Choice

GEM: GEM Uncirculated
A superior coin with an almost perfect Strike. May show just a few minute Contact Marks, barley visible to the naked eye. Virtually Full Lustre or Mint Bloom is present. Degree of Brilliance (Color) on Bronze Coins may be expressed in per cent (%). Thus, GEM-50%B refers to a coin with half its Brilliance still intact. Overall, exceptional Eye Appeal is present.

CHU: Choice Uncirculated
A fairly good Strike, but some weakness in this area is acceptable. If seemingly excessive but common for type, then this may be mentioned separately. Just a few but relatively insignificant Contact Marks may be present. Better than average Mint Bloom or Lustre should be apparent. Remaining Brilliance on Bronze Coins should be expressed in per cent (%). Pleasant Eye Appeal.

UNC: Uncirculated- Typical
Possibly but not always a Weak Strike. A few scattered Contact Marks, but if of a fairly eye catching or serious nature, this should be mentioned separately. Lustre or Mint Bloom may be present, but possibly be subdued. Some minor rubbing or Cabinet Friction (from storing coins) may be tolerable, but must not be obvious wear. Limited Eye Appeal may still be apparent, but unattractive toning should be separately mentioned. Brilliance on Bronze expressed in per cent (%).
NOTE: From this grade on and below, quality of Strike should not be of great significance when considering grade, but may be mentioned separately if excessively inferior, as it may slightly affect value.

aUNC: almost Uncirculated
Similar in most respects to UNC but with light traces of Wear on the highest points of the design. A fair degree of lustre or Mint bloom may still remain. Important Note: Coins graded aUNC due to light Wear may be visually more attractive than others graded UNC. Reasons for this may be a better Strike or fewer Contact Marks. However, light Wear results in aUNC.

gEF: good Extra Fine
Shows a little more Wear (2%-5%) on the high points of the design. Usually features non-serious Contact Marks, obvious from circulation. Lustre still possible, but more likely found in protected areas. Reasonable Eye Appeal should still be present.
NOTE: For circulated coins, exceptional Eye Appeal may lift the grade by 1/3 of a point say EF to gEF; or aVF to VF. Alternatively, particularly unattractive coins should be downgraded by a similar margin.

EF: Extra Five
Light overall Wear, (5% to 10%) from the high points of the design. A few more Contact Marks than for gEF, (but still nothing serious) may be apparent. Centre pearls on the Obverse of George V coins are strong and divided, except with 3 Pence, where small size may prevent detail. Traces of Lustre still possible in protected areas. A pleasant but obviously used coin.

aEF: almost Extra Fine
Wear is now around 10% to 15%. Lightly scattered Contact Marks are obvious. Hairlines on George VI coins and Centre pearls on George V Obverse quite strong, though some allowance must be made for small Three Pence. Overall, a pleasant but circulated coin.

gVF: good Very Fine
Wear is now around 15% to 20% from the highest points of the design. Contact Marks are obvious but still not serious. Centre pearls on George V coins may just blend together or be marginally apart in a strong strike. A very acceptable condition for collectors.

VF: Very Fine
Wear is around 20% to 35% from the highest points of the design. George V coins should feature a full outline of the Centre Diamond on the Obverse. Contact Marks are moderate but no more than for a coin that has seen average circulation. Significant Contact Marks must still be mentioned separately. In most instances, this is the lowest grade a serious collector should accept.

Fine: Fine
Wear now is around 35% to 50% form the high points of the design. Intricate details are well worn away. Coin may still have a pleasant but well used appearance.

VG: Very Good
Wear may be uneven and is 50% to 75% from the high points of the main design. However, all outline of the design are still fairly raised and intact.

GOOD: Good
Wear is above 75% to 90% form the high points of the design. All Outline of the design is still apparent, though marginally so in some areas. For the true blue collector on a budget.

rggoodie
aka Richard
"catch em doing something right"
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Susanlynn9's Avatar
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 Posted 02/15/2005  10:23 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Susanlynn9 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I have added a link to my post above that gives a general description of each grade.

I have also copied your post here to its own topic (Australia Coin Grades) and made it sticky.
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Mila_cent's Avatar
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 Posted 02/15/2005  12:34 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Mila_cent to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thank you Susan, for your quick response.
I will check out the link you posted so I can get a better understanding of the grading rules. Sorry, I'm slow. Feels like I'm back in school. [:p] My worst subject was..., wanna take a guess


Anything that had to do with numbers .

Thanks again, Sil
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Susanlynn9's Avatar
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 Posted 02/15/2005  1:06 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Susanlynn9 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Don't feel bad. I got behind and didn't post the link until this morning. We've been incredibly busy the past couple of days and I haven't been able to participate on the forum as much as I would have liked - but I'm still reading the posts
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collect4fun's Avatar
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 Posted 02/15/2005  6:36 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add collect4fun to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I always find these following descriptors hard to discern; some wear,light wear, lightly worn, some luster, 1/2 of mint luster, lack of luster. Terms I find very helpful are; letters and date will be clear of rim, half of lines / feathers / hair will show, any three letters will show, full Liberty will show, all feathers will show on wings.

Someday I would like to get a set together that would exhibit the difference in grades when it comes to luster and wear. But until then, I keep Photograde close at hand.


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Susanlynn9's Avatar
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 Posted 02/15/2005  9:08 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Susanlynn9 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Originally posted by collect4fun

Someday I would like to get a set together that would exhibit the difference in grades when it comes to luster and wear. But until then, I keep Photograde close at hand.

I think this is a great idea, but you would have to put together sets for each series since they all have different grading points. Definitely has the potential to get costly.
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Mike's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 04/16/2005  12:29 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Mike to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Here is another link that has a lot of information on grading individual series. Mike http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html
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Stephen420's Avatar
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 Posted 09/01/2005  1:12 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Stephen420 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Hello Susan, everybody, I'm new to this sight and fairly new to numismatics. First, I join everyone saying thanks for the list. I printed it to keep in handy for when I'm thinking about buying something based on it's ebay scan. Regarding MS-70, have you ever seen one? If so, what was it, etc., and was it comparable to any earthly experience?
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Susanlynn9's Avatar
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 Posted 09/01/2005  2:33 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Susanlynn9 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
There are many who feel that MS70 is a fantasy grade as this would be a completely perfect coin. It becomes harder to describe an MS70 coin as the grading standards change to fit the market. The newest standards as published by the ANA have lowered the standards on many coins for the circulated grades. It stands to reason that the MS designations are also suffering from more lax standards.

Personally, I have never seen a true MS70 coin, though I have seen sub-standard slabs with that grade stated. The coins in these slabs have not been better than MS66 in my experience.
New Member
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 Posted 12/13/2005  11:37 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mike1352 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I've used and seen to many types of systems. We don't go below Good? Is that when the face of the coin is almost not there? I know that sounds dumb. But when the world looks at something they look at something and that is how they see it. Good is still Good.
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 Posted 12/13/2005  11:43 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mike1352 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Sorry I ment About Good.
Mike
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Susanlynn9's Avatar
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 Posted 12/13/2005  4:32 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Susanlynn9 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
These are the conditions below Good:

Poor (PR1) A barely identifiable coin that may no longer show a date.

Fair (FR2) Slightly more detail than a Poor coin but still not considered of collectible grade. Dates and most of legends can be missing.

About Good (AG3) Very heavily worn with portions of lettering, date, and legend worn smooth. The date may be barely readable.
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hangokid11's Avatar
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 Posted 05/13/2006  3:30 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add hangokid11 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
MS70 is almost practically impossible and plus one so called grading service labels them that way or PR70 called the INB which is unheard of... beware of any slabbed coins with INB on it, it's misleading
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Prethen's Avatar
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3221 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2006  1:20 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Prethen to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Susan, I know this sounds picky, but some of the definition terms are a bit off.
MS60-62/PF60-62 - Uncirculated or Brilliant Uncirculated (BU)/Proof (Proof 60 is on the verge of Impaired Proof)
MS63-64/PF63-64 - Choice Uncirculated/Proof
MS65/PF65 - Gem Uncirculated/Proof
MS66-69/PF66-69 - Superb Gem Uncirculated/Proof
MS70/PF70 - Perfect
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Guido's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 09/07/2006  5:51 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Guido to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I have a more general question regarding MS70 verses PF70 coins. I know the difference is uncirculated vs. proof, but in terms of value or price, which coin is more expensive or valuable? I am looking at more recent dated coins, such as ASE silver and gold coins.

Thanks
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