Coin Grading
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Your main British coin grading tiers are:
FINE
VERY FINE
EXTREMELY FINE
UNCIRCULATED
You will sometimes hear a coin being given a grade of "GOOD", "FAIR" or
"POOR", these grades are below FINE with most coin collectors only
collecting coins which are fine or above. Anything below fine and the detail
is really quite worn.
Other grading terminology you may come across:
As well as the main grades some coins can be graded even more subjectively and may
not fall into the one of the main grading tiers as displayed above.
VF+ (Good Very Fine),
aEF (Almost Extremely Fine) and
EF+ (Good Extremely Fine)
BU - BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED: a coin that as well as being uncirculated
still maintains much of its original mint lustre (colour).
FDC or FLEUR DE COIN: is French and is usually only used when
describing a proof or pattern coin. It means a perfect coin, one that is in a
condition as if it had just left the mint. One of the best examples.
PROOF: a specially struck coin using specially prepared dies. This gives a
more clear and greater definition to the design compared with a normal
(business) strike.
Grading In the USA and TPG's (Third Party Grading):
Third party grading is a grading carried out by an independent third party (company).
The grading system in the USA is slightly different. A Sheldon scale of 1-70 is used.
Coins graded by TPG's often come in plastic containers which are often
referred to as slabs, and the coins are often called slabbed coins.
Coins are graded using a scale system from 1 (worst possible grade) to 70
(best possible grade) with abbreviations used before the numbers:
P-1 (Poor)
FR-2 (Fair)
AG-3 (About Good)
G-4 (Good)
G-6 (Good Plus)
VG-8 (Very Good)
F-12 (Fine)
VF-20 (Very Fine)
VF-30 (Good Very Fine)
EF-40 (Extremely Fine)
XF-45 (Choice Extremely Fine)
AU-50 (About Uncirculated)
AU-55 (Good About Uncirculated)
AU-58 (Choice About Uncirculated)
MS-60 (Barely Mint State)
MS-61 (Low Mint State)
MS-62 (Nice Mint State)
MS-63 (Good Mint State)
MS-64 (Choice Mint State)
MS-65 (Brilliant Uncirculated/ Mint State)
Grades MS-65 to MS-70 tend to be rare on older coins and ussually are seen
more on modern coins.
An MS-70 (Should be perfect in every way)
A word of warning though, many British collectors and dealers would argue
that the US grading is a little lenient and the graded coins wouldn't be graded
as highly in the UK.
Recently a coin grading company ( CGS-UK ) started operations in Britain
and uses a 100 point scale.
Other terminology you may hear:
Proof-like: seen with varying depths of mirror intensity; many times combined with brilliant cartwheels of lustre.
Toned: A coin that has started to naturally darken over time. Some collectors prefer coins with a nice toning.
Monster/ Colourful Toned: A coin that displays brilliant colourful toning. Usually very eye appealing.
Eye appeal: A coin that "appeals to the eye". It is a lovely example with litle distractions, perhaps displaying nice or colourful tonining.
RB: Red & Brown. Should display mostly original mint red, with a little brown.
Red: Fully original mint red colour.
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Some coin collectors and some less reputable coin dealers have a
tendency to over grade their coins. This is false economy because when
and if the time comes to sell the coin you will be disappointed.
It is a good idea to buy coins from reputable dealers.
We always aim to grade our coins as honestly and accurately as possible.
Copyright:
Prestige Numismatics Ltd
