Grading Your Coins – 4 Methods Of Checking Them

A ‘grade’ is a shorthand that numismatists design in order to reveal the appearance of a coin. For instance, if one collector tells another one that he possesses a Charlotte fifty half eagle, both the collectors should have a fair idea of what the coin looks like without having seen the coin by the grade of the coin alone.
Many collectors agree that grading a coin in order to categorize it is more an art than a science as it often subjective and biased. This means that while working on coins of ‘Mint State’, even little differences in grade can make a difference in price.
One can learn, study and apply grade with a predictable outcome, and this does not depend on one’s feelings, but on one’s judgement.
Like any other science, research, sport or language, learning to grade a coin should be done a component at a time with serious experience and study.
Today, most of the coin collectors use ‘Sheldon grading scale’ to grade their coins. Although there are a few people who complain that there are too many grades, most coin graders appreciate and recognise that there are many features between grades.
Strike
This method involves imprinting or stamping a symbol or a drawing into a blank. A strike can either be strong or weak depending on the design of the coin. One example is the ‘gold dollar Type II’ on which the front and the back have perfectly aligned strikes that are the highest. This means that this kind of design needs a weak strike.
Usually, the strike does not play a major role in determining the grade of a coin except when it collection revolves around the value of strikes.
Preserving a coin’s surface
Another significant element for establishing grade is the number of marks on the coin and their placement. Although there are no fixed formulae relating the number of marks on a coin to its grade, there are many regulated standards that highlight the significance of the placement of a mark or scratch.
For example, if a coin has a deep scratch and it is not visible on the reverse side, the coin will not be penalized strictly. However, in case the same scratch is visible on some important central location, like the statue of liberty’s cheek, it will be penalized more.
Lustre or Patina
There are various textures present on a coin’s surface that are influenced by design, the mint of origin and the metal used. Different textures include frosty, proof like, semi-proof-like and satiny.
While examining the surface of a coin according to its grade, there are two things that need to be looked at. The first is the quantity, that is, the state of the original skin; it should be intact. The second is the amount and location of marks.
If one has to determine whether a particular coin has been circulated or not, lustre is an important criteria to consider. A coin which is still in Mint state, will be technically free of wear and abrasion and will not have much break in the lustre.
Color
Color is a subjective element while determining the grade of a coin. For example, one collector might find a gold coin with gold-dark green pigmentation attractive, while another might not.
Gold is a moderately inert metal and hence it does not undergo as much color variance as silver or copper. Still, there is a wide range of existing colors even in gold coins.