Coin Grading

By Jeff Starck COIN WORLD Staff

In determining whether a given coin has “eye appeal,” it all depends on the person you ask. To some, it’s a simple matter of taste, but to others, it’s so obvious as to have specific requirements and characteristics that a coin must meet.

The fact is, eye appeal is neither that loosely defined nor that strictly determined. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

A definition

Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, simply put, in determining a coin’s grade, eye appeal is the element that “grabs” the viewer. Eye appeal is the overall look of a coin, according to a “coin lingo” guide at the Professional Coin Grading Service Web site.

Coin World columnist Q. David Bowers wrote in an April 9 column this year that, “eye appeal is a matter of opinion, but if a coin appears to be beautiful to your eyes, chances are good that when your collection is sold someday, buyers will feel likewise.”

In an earlier column, in the Feb. 5 issue, Bowers provides some questions to ask about a coin to determine its eye appeal. “Is the coin richly lustrous, or is it grainy or ‘greasy’ in appearance? Are there stains or spots? Is it dull gray, brown or even black? In a word, is it beautiful? Does it beckon, saying to you, ‘Buy me!’ ” Read Full Article

(Newport Beach, California) - Professional Coin Grading Service has certified the first reported Sacagawea golden dollar coin struck with the edge lettering intended only for Presidential dollars. The submitter will receive a $10,000 finder’s reward from PCGS.

“The United States Mint set up specific internal procedures in an attempt to prevent this type of error from happening. But it did happen, and it’s an amazing-looking error,” said Ron Guth, PCGS President.

The 2007-dated coin was struck at the Denver Mint and has been examined and authenticated by the experts at PCGS. The coin was submitted by Andrew Moores of Lakewood, Colorado who found the coin in his pocket change. Moores believes he could have had the coin for as long as two weeks and only noticed it when he compared it with other Sacagawea Dollars that he had already set aside.

Moores was unaware of the reward until a coin collector friend mentioned that he had seen the offer on the PCGS Message Boards. According to Guth, who spoke with the submitter about the find, “Needless to say, Mr. Moores is a very happy man.”

PCGS also confirms it now has certified 301 Jefferson dollars erroneously struck without edge lettering. Continued

By Coins Magazine posted on Numismaster
Grades listed are based on the following standards established by the American Numismatic Association. For more detailed descriptions, see Official ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins, by Ken Bressett and A. Kosoff (American Numismatic Association, 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279.

Proof Coins

The term “proof” refers to a manufacturing process that results in a special surface or finish on coins made for collectors. Most familiar are modern brilliant proofs. These coins are struck at the Mint by a special process. Carefully prepared dies, sharp in all features are made. Then the flat surfaces of the dies are given a high, mirrorlike polish. Specially prepared planchets are fed into low-speed coining presses. Each proof coin is slowly and carefully struck more than once to accentuate details. When striking is completed, the coin is taken from the dies with care and not allowed to come into contact with other pieces. The result is a coin with a mirrorlike surface. The piece is then grouped together with other denominations in a set and offered for sale to collectors.

From 1817 through 1857, proof coins were made only on special occasions and not for general sale to collectors. They were made available to visiting foreign dignitaries, government officials, and those with connections at the Mint. Earlier (pre-1817) U.S. coins may have prooflike surfaces and many proof characteristics (1796 silver coins are good examples), but they were not specifically or intentionally struck as proofs. These are sometimes designated as “specimen strikings.” Read Full Article

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

You know you have too much time on your hands when you find yourself creating an Excel spreadsheet just to calculate the total number of Buffalo nickels minted from 1913 to 1938. But you can always defend yourself by telling the world you have a good excuse.

In this day and age of so much emphasis placed on perfection, what serious collector would turn down an opportunity to own an MS or PF-70 specimen if his or her checkbook would allow it? So, if you’re a Buffalo nickel fan and haven’t been exposed to the harsh reality, you incorrectly assume that out of over 1,200,000,000 nickels (yes, that’s Billion) minted in those 25 years, mathematical probability alone would predict at least a few MS-69 or 70 specimens, wouldn’t you conclude?

But as population report after population report of the major grading services are scanned in desperation, the Buffalo fanatic is sadly resigned to the fact that in countless decades of searching, not one MS-70 has yet been recorded. Does this mean that no such specimen exists? Probably an accurate assumption. But, if one were ever found some time in the future in an obscure safe deposit box and later assigned to a major auction, can you begin to imagine how spirited the bidding would be for that coin regardless of its date and mint mark? Seven figures has such a nice ring to it (okay, maybe six.)

On further examination of these population reports and coin publications, it’s made statistically obvious that there are many year/mint mark combinations of the Buffalo nickel where the highest grade recorded goes all the way “down” to MS-65 level. Having to sadly accept these realistic maximums is the source of the article’s title.

The only solace we can get is from at least knowing why our favorite coins were evidently “doomed” to less than a “perfect” strike even as the blank planchets were about to be hit by a die with tons of pressure behind it “back in the day”. Continued

By Michael Fazzari

It’s almost 2008 and there is still no “little black box” to grade coins, but some have tried. This weekend, while looking through some old clippings, I came across an article about “The Expert.”

The subject of the article called to mind a joke I’d heard from a former associate, Charlie Hoskins. He used to say that the word “expert” came from two roots, “ex” meaning from or out of and “pert” a little drip under pressure. In this case, “The Expert” in the article was neither a drip nor a human. Read on.

About 20 years ago, one of the grading services developed an expensive gadget to grade coins called “The Expert.” Apparently, it was a video camera surrounded by a bank of high intensity lights set up to record the surface of a coin. The coin’s image was digitalized as each light flashed in sequence and the resulting image was stored in a computer. Read Full Story