Mark Feld

I posted this information on a few other forums previously, quite a while ago. I have made a few updates/edits very recently and hope it will be of some help to at least a few people here. If you have any questions and/or would like to discuss any of this, please don't hesitate to say so......

PART 1

Disclaimer :

I have no doubt that much or all of this has been discussed previously and in some cases, in greater detail and in a more interesting fashion. But, I have received a lot of questions about pointers for examining and grading coins, so I'll try to address them in this format.

These are merely my opinions and they may differ from those of others.

I was originally planning on including all of the pointers in one post. However, I quickly realized that to do so would necessitate a post that would be so long as to guarantee that I would put numerous forum members into a deep and prolonged sleep. So, I have decided to break it up into 2 different segments.

LIGHTING

Different people prefer different types of lighting. I prefer using a halogen lamp. I can sometimes see things (hairlines, cleaning, etc.) on coins under this type of light that I can't see by using other light sources. Some prefer halogen lamps as I do, but many others prefer incandescent lamps, like you might see at coin shows or auction lot viewing.

There really is no right or wrong in this area. I would suggest experimenting with a few different types of light sources to get a feel for what you can see with each and what you are most comfortable with. Lighting can be a problem if it is not intense enough but conversely, if too intense, it can drown out colors that you might otherwise see and prevent you from getting a good look at a coin. Warning - do not look at coins in bright sunlight or under laser beams!

One thing I would stress - it is very important that whatever type of lighting you use, that it be consistent. If you go to a show and buy coins under different lighting conditions than you are used to, you might receive a very unpleasant surprise when you get home and examine your coins!

I would also caution you about lighting at coin auction viewing and shows - if the overhead lights are too bright they can drown out the light source that you are using and you might not be getting a good look at the coins. Be aware of the type of lighting, any time you are examining coins. You would be amazed how at different the same coin can look under different lighting conditions. Think about some of the coin images you see and how two different images of the same coin can look so different and you will get the picture.

MAGNIFICATION

BEFORE you put a glass to a coin, I would urge you to look at the coin for a few seconds without magnification - get a feel for what it looks like - look at the big picture.

Many very expensive coins get graded and bought and sold without the use of magnification. I only occasionally use a magnifying glass. The exceptions for myself, are for very small coins like Three Cent Silvers and gold Dollars, as well as the cases where I see something like a spot or flaw that I wish to examine more closely. When I do use magnification, it is most often a 5X and occasionally a 10X. I think it is important that when you use a glass, that in most cases, you be able to look at a good portion of the coin and not simply one tiny area in isolation. If you look at just one area you can get a distorted view.

If you use strong enough magnification, I am convinced that just about any classic coin can look bad! And, while you might be proud of yourself for finding 17 flaws on an MS66 coin, you might be doing yourself a big disservice by passing on it, flaws and all.

Whatever magnification you use should allow you to get a good look at the coin but not to lose sight (pun intended) of what the whole coin looks like. And remember, if you have decent eye sight and have been trained to examine a coin properly (more on that later) you wont need a glass in many cases. I PROMISE YOU - SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT HE OR SHE IS DOING CAN SEE THINGS WITH THE NAKED EYE THAT YOU WONT EVEN SEE WITH A GLASS.

I am not against magnifiers but feel that they are sometimes overused and misused. Think about the whole/big picture and learn to overlook the little flaws (unless the coin is supposed to be an MS or PR 70) - oftentimes, they simply don't matter that much on a practical basis.

Please do not take what I have stated above to mean that I think it is O.K. to buy over graded coins or that imperfections and flaws don't matter with respect to grade. That is not the case at all. However, I see many non-experts engage in "micro-grading" where they focus so much on little, mostly inconsequential imperfections, that they lose perspective and can't see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.

Part 2

EXAMINING COINS

Now it's time to discuss examining/viewing coins properly.....

First, make sure you don't have your pet dog, cat (or snake) anywhere near where you will be studying your treasures. The same goes for babies and significant others - this is serious business and you need to be able to concentrate!

Lighting has already been discussed but I did neglect to mention that blinds or shades should be drawn so that your light source is not interfered with by any outside light.

If you have coins that are uncertified and completely out of any type of holder, I'd recommend that you have something soft and yielding (a towel, a felt tray, etc.) underneath where you will be holding the coins, in case you drop one (or two). The best/sharpest coin graders are not necessarily the most sure-handed!

I do recommend that you remove uncertified coins from their 2x2's, etc., to get a proper look - even the thinnest layer of plastic can mask flaws and prevent you from getting the view that you should.

Be conscious of how easy it is to put fingerprints on your beauties. I have seen a lot of people start off by holding coins at their edges, but gradually lose concentration and allow their long and or fat fingers to move from the edge to the surface of the coin.

To get the best possible look at a coin it is imperative that you tilt and gradually rotate it so that the light bounces off of it from as many angles as possible. A coin can look completely different, if looked at head-on, vs. from an angle. Light reflects differently and colors and luster can look different, as well. You might see hairlines, cleaning, wipes or other problems from one angle that you wont see from another angle. Look at a coin from all angles, top to bottom, right side up, sideways and upside down, etc. This is a simple concept but you'd be surprised at the number of people who don't do it right.

I know some graders who start off looking at the reverses of coins first just to get a different perspective. I know others who begin, looking at coins sideways instead of up and down, for the same reason. I don't usually do those things but it's probably a good idea to try it once in a while, just for a change in your routine.

When you take your first look at a coin, do so without a glass/magnifier. Eyeball it for a few seconds on each side to get a general first impression - to see how it hits you. Don't worry, initially, about looking for flaws and problems - get a feel for the big picture and the eye-appeal or lack thereof.

I cannot over-emphasize the fact, that in many cases, the first, split second look of a coin is extremely important. It will either grab your attention or not. If it doesn't, it might not be so special and it might not impress the next viewer, either. If it is special looking and grabs your attention right away, it very well might have the same effect on the next person. Many buying decisions regarding many valuable coins are made in a matter of seconds, based on that all-important first impression.

Look at the focal points - the main design elements (the cheek on a Morgan dollar, Ms. Liberty on a Walking Liberty Half dollar, the Indian on Indian gold coinage, etc.) If you have questions about the most important areas for grading for a given type of coin, please feel free to ask.

Next, look at the other areas, toward the borders. As you are doing this, you should be slowly and gradually rotating the coin and tilting it back and forth (as mentioned previously) at the same time - try to get the light to reflect off of the surface from as many angles as possible.

Now, for those of you who are dying to do so, it is OK to pick up your magnifiers - go for it, but don't forget about how the coin first struck you, when you looked with your naked eye.

indianhead

Great post Mark!! There's some very useful information there.

Hobo

Font size 2 is hard on the old eyes. I'm gonna have to copy & paste this into Word and bump up the font size a bit so I can read it.

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900fine

Thanks ! I will be making a few changes thanks to this thread.

I do have one question regarding the following statement :

"One thing I would stress - it is very important that whatever type of lighting you use, that it be consistent. If you go to a show and buy coins under different lighting conditions than you are used to, you might receive a very unpleasant surprise when you get home and examine your coins! "

At shows, I have always used the dealer's lights. I have never felt uncomfortable; they seemed fine. They are usually incandescent, but sometimes halogen.

But that's not consistent !

It almost sounds like I need to bring my own lighting ! But that seems infeasible; I've never seen anyone else do that.

How can one have consistent lighting at shows ?

Thanks,

Ricky B

Mark Feld

If you are comfortable with the lighting you use at shows and you don't see things differently and experience unpleasant surprises when you get home with your new purchases, it sounds like you're OK.

Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about:

1) Different lamps at shows and/or auction viewing might have different wattage bulbs such as 60, 75 or 100. If you are accustomed to using a particular wattage, it might cause trouble if you unknowingly use a different one. And sometimes by the time you find out it can be too late.

2) If you use a halogen lamp at your home and/or office but use an incandescent lamp at a show, you might not see particular flaws at the show, but notice them when you get home.

3) A collector sent a coin to me for me to examine because it had body-bagged at 2 or 3 grading services and he couldn't see/find the problem. I viewed the coin carefully under my incandescent lamp, and even though I knew there must be a problem and was looking for it, I couldn't spot it. I then tried my halogen lamp and saw the wheel/counting machine mark almost immediately.

4) Some shows have overhead lighting that can interfere with your getting a good look at a coin with a table lamp.

Just as an experiment, try viewing a few coins under more than one type of lighting and see what differences you can detect. Check and compare things such as color, luster, hairlines, etc.

I usually deal in higher grade mint state and Proof coins, so lighting might be more important to me than it would be to someone who buys circulated coins, for example. Still, cleaning, among other problems, can be much more difficult to detect under some lighting conditions than it is under others.

By the way, I know a number of dealers and at least a few collectors who bring their own portable lamps to shows and auction viewing. But that can be a nuisance and if what you're currently doing works for you, by all means stick with it.

Cloudsweeper99

Mark, this information is extremely helpful.

Phoenix21

Thanks for the info Mr. Feld. It is very helpful.

I am now honestly going to go look for like a transportable pocket light or something of the sort, because I've experience some probs with coin dealers lighting. Thanks for the info and help.

Phoenix

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Bonedigger

Great general advice without question for those taking pictures of coins for sure.

Personally when grading coins, I try to do it with the coin upside down and starting with the reverse. It takes away the general assumption factors and allows one to concentrate on the various areas individually. Identify the key areas like devices, field, rims, etc... Then combine those overall grades averaging them out by the number of areas you are checking. Take this technical grade and then throw in a little 'eye-appeal' and with practice you'll have the actual grade of the coin. With practice, more times than not you will fall spot-on the true overall grade of the coin.

This process (I think) was begun by a Mr. Sherman Clark of Flynn, Texas back in the 1960s and it gradually caught on with members of the (now defunct) Brazos Valley Coin Club, which was headquartered in Bryan, Tx (*Texas Coin Exchange).

Take Care
Ben

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Speedy

Thanks for your thoughts Mark!

Speedy

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Mark Feld

I'm glad that a few of you found the information helpful.

Mark Feld

I thought I would resurrect this thread a year and a half later, in the hopes that it might be of some benefit to other forum members.

Upvalley

Mark, thank you! Very helpful.

green18

Valuable info for "newbies" and "oldies". Thanks for bumping this one Mark, I missed it back then.

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900fine

Yep, a thread like this... it's good when it bubbles back up to the top. I'm in a "back to the basics" mode, reviewing some books I read years ago.

Arizona Jack

Mark
You deserve another Thread of the Week for this. I urge folks to wait untill Monday to nominate it so he can get 2 in a row.

I know that is not your goal, but do take the credit, it is well deserved.

Your renewed interest and post count is welcome here. Join the rank of the new CT allstars, including Rick Snow, Charmy and several from the PCGS group that have not gone public yet ( but we know who they are )...........

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