Which grading book to get?

ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins: American Numismatic Association:

http://www.amazon.com/Grading-Standards-United-States-Coins/dp/0794819931/ref=pd_sim_b_1

OR

Grading Coins by Photographs

http://www.amazon.com/Grading-Coins-Photographs-David-Bowers/dp/0794827012/ref=pd_sim_b_5

OR

Photograde: Official Photographic Grading Guide for United States Coins

http://www.amazon.com/Photograde-Official-Photographic-Grading-United/dp/0974237159/ref=pd_sim_b_8

Or are their any others you would suggest? Are there really any major differences between them?

 

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I recommend the ANA Grading Standards.

 

Brown and Dunn

 

Echo that......

 

Steal pictures off EBay of certified coins, make your own set of grading standards. Better pictures and FREE.

 

Glad to hear, just landed that book for $2.25 (+$3.64 S&H) on eBay! Great seller, apabivens, He is a wholesaler based in Tennessee. Great Numismatic books at rock bottom prices!
Steve

 

All three.

 

I think it's a really good idea to have a few grading books on hand for reference because you will learn different things from each. That said, the best first grading book is the ANA book IMHO.

 

I second that!

The ANA grading book has helped me immensely. Although, I'm sure the other two books couldn't hurt to own as well.

I will echo the statement of getting all three!

 

I just ordered Grading Coins by Photographs and the ANA grading guide. I will see how I like those to before I order anymore.

I always say the more references the better, but why exactly do I need them all? I mean the PCGS guide on amazon is $60 new and $36 used? That's more than the other guides combined. What makes it so much better? Not trying to be smart, just asking. I'm more on the side that coin grading is an art not a science and no matter how much you study, train your eye and read these books your opinion on the grade of a coin will almost always be slightly differnet then other peoples. I've read many stories of people sending a coin to NGC, geting a graded coin back. Then they crack open the slab send the same coin in the same condition to PCGS and get it back with a different grade than NCG gave it. Then they crack the slab again send it to ANACS and get a grade that is different then both NGC and PCGS. I've never heard of anyone doing this, but I would bet money you could send a coin to one company, get it back with a grade on it, crack the slab and send it to the same company and get it back with a different grade from the same company. If I were rich I'd spend money on doing such experiments myself out of curiosity.

Point is, I will probably never buy a slabbed professionally graded coin. Just because some grader at PCGS gave it an MS65 it might not mean that that particular coins would appeal to me as much as a MS62 graded coin would for some reason or another. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I just want some basic grading skills so when I buy at a shop, show or on ebay I'm not going to totally get ripped off on the price or grade.

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I would try the library or a bookstore for a visual comparison. I bought my son photograde when he wanted to start collecting coins. The PCGS app is highly recommended if you have a touch or iphone, it is invaluable at shows.

Lack

 

I love my ANA grading book.

 

I can't believe I never thought to search the app store for a coin guide! I'm such a geek to, I have apps for everything else and never even thought to find one for coin grading. Just downloaded it can't wait to try it out! Thanks for that suggestion.

 

Echo that again. I have 3 different ones, all of which are helpfull. But I think the ANA book is the best.

 

I posted a layman's review last year on Q. David Bowers Book, Grading Coins by Photographs. The review can be found in the CoinTalk group :Coin Collectors' Library and Book Reviews.
Steve

 

I think you have bought the best two guides to learn the basics of grading. The reason having more guides (including the PCGS guide) is a good idea is because grading is a highly subjective thing and not everybody grades a like. For instance, a lot of collectors (including myself) really like the ANA grading standards and use that as their basis for grading and evaluating a coin. TPGs such as PCGS and NGC don't exclusively use the ANA standards...they both have their own individual grading standards. Just an example, consider a 1916-D Mercury Dime slabbed as a VG8. Often times, you will find a spot on the rim where you lose the definition between rim and field. Now, according to ANA, in order to grade a VG8 you must have a full rim. So...is this slabbed coin truly a VG8? According to ANA it is not, but according to PCGS it might be. So, you have to know the grading specifics of different experts to be able to accurately assess a coin. So, having several different resources can be helpful.

Now, you don't have to get them all at once. Start with what you now have and use them...and learn. Then, down the road increase your library and add another reference.

 

I know they all have different grading standards. That is my point, I think you should read my last post again. I not so interested in learning why NGC will call a coin MS63 when PCGS will call the same coin a MS65 or vice versa. I just want to have a general idea of a grade so I'm not getting ripped of when I go to a coin shop or show. I really don't see the point in purchasing a book for $60 if it is no better than a grading book for $12 or $17. Different is not necessarily better. the PCGS book might be different then the ANA book, but would you say it is better? If someone tells me that the book has much better quality photos and gives better descriptions of why the coin is graded the way it is, then okay, say that it is a better book for those reasons, but not because of an opinion that PCGS is a better company than the others. PCGS standards are just one companies opinion of a grade vs. another. Why should I value their opinion on grading over another reputable company? I don't mean to sound smart, but really it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. As I mentioned in my last post, I have no intention of ever collecting professionally graded coins because it is so subjective. I will buy coins that has nice eye appeal to me, I even write what grade I think it is on the 2x2 (I think it will be interesting to look at the same coins years from now to see if I would grade if differently). I don't really care if PCGS or NGC would give it a higher or lower grade as long as I like how it looks.

I may be more interested in the different standards used by different companies a few years down the road, I may even become interested in collecting professionally graded coins down the road. Right now I just want to develop a good enough eye so that I don't get completely ripped off and my collection is growing and I would like to know the grades and therefore retail value of my collection in the event I decide to insure it I won't over or under insure its value.

I did download the PCGS app for my iPod and I must say it is awesome especially for being FREE! It doesn't give explanations but does have very good quality photos of PCGS graded coins ranging all the way from Poor to fair all the way up to MS70 and shows all the subtle differences such as MS61, MS62, MS63, MS64 etc etc. And since its on my iPod, which I take viturally everywhere with me anyway, I can just pull it out at a coin shop and look at a photo of what a XF coin looks like and compare it to the XF coin I'm about to buy to make sure the coin dealer doesn't have it over graded for the price. Thanks for that suggestion lackluster.

 

I need to download that app