I know nothing about ancient coins. I don't own any. But I was wondering today: What is the highest grade which can be considered normally for an ancient coin? Uncirculated would, to my simple mind, seem impossible to achieve. But even if it is how high on the MS scale could it go? Is an MS70 possible? I would think not. What is the highest grade you have ever seen? (Disclaimer: As I said, I know nothing about them. Are the even graded on the same scale?)
Here is a good grading scale for Ancients. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Grading Guidelines for Ancient Coins Moderns' standards (which MOST Ancient collectors have collected), do not apply to ancients. Totally different.
Grading is a very complex matter for collectors of ancients, that includes many more variables than the grading of moderns. I would suggest starting with Doug Smith's pages at FORVM. Be sure to read all three sections, Standard Grading, Conditions of Manufacture, and Conditions of Preservation, to get a thorough overview. Grading and Describing Ancient Coins
To answer OP's question directly, the highest condition possible is FDC, fleur de coin, which is synonymous for "perfect". Most coins on the market described as FDC aren't actually FDC though. As far as uncirculated, there are plenty of uncirculated coins found in hoards and whatnot but with ancients there are many variables outside of wear and many of these uncirculated coins do not make the cut for FDC because of strike, metal condition, die condition, etc.
I have a few graded ancients, which most ancient collectors do not like. The highest at NGC is MS, then 5/5 for strike and 5/5 for surface. I think you can also have choice MS, or MS with a star, etc.
I've seen these things 5/5 in the ad pages of NN. What exactly does 5/5 mean? 5 out of 5 based on what?
Ancient coins can and have been found which have been sealed away in conditions that prevented deterioration all these years. A term I have seen long ago for "uncirculated" class ancients is FDC.
Good question. To me these numbers mean nothing at all. I guess these numbers are supposed to represent an "expert" opinion. I say no thanks, I will grade the coin myself based on criteria I believe are important rather than paying someone to give me an opinion on features or attributes I may consider unimportant or even trivial. Professional grading helps those who do not know enough to grade coins for themselves. These TPGs count on the ignorance of beginning collectors. If you need an expert opinion send the coin to Sear. You will get an opinion without the plastic tomb.
The important thing to remember about FDC is that 99.9% of all ancient coins were not FDC one second after they were made. Many common types are not possible to find in FDC simply because there are so many levels of so many factors (my list on the pages JA recommended is far from complete) that no coin got perfection on every score. FDC means 'that coin no better than which can be conceived to exist'. There is no such thing as 'FDC for this' or 'about FDC'. FDC means FDC and that is it. The 5/5 scales strike me as giant jokes but still better than nothing. I would have preferred they made the scale 10/10 but there are at least a hundred levels of perfection or lack thereof on strike and surface so it is obvious that some MS 5/5, 5/5 will be better than others. The longer one collects ancient coins the more likely one is to stop worrying about grading and just fall back on 'good enough for me' or 'I pass'. In the end, these are the only grades that matter.
Orfew and Doug sum it as to how I feel. Opinions are nice I supose, but bottom line is it's how I feel about the coins in my collection that matter the most.
Lots of folks who "do not collect ancient coins" want to know how to grade them. It is important to learn the relationship of how a coin looks to the price you might pay. I think a better question is how do you decide what coin is right for you. The links above will give you a primer on ancient coin grading. Time looking at ancient coins on line and at coin shows will give you a feel for what is important to you. My thoughts on coin selection are here: http://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-thoughts-on-coin-selection-pinarius.html Some of the links are out of date, but you can see some of my thoughts. The coins shown above are some of my best. I call them gVF to EF, but there are many more words that describe the coins than 1 - 3 letters or two digits. The METELLVS was called gEF by the seller. I agree it is an excellent coin, but Victory is a bit flat, the flan is too small to hold the edge rim, there are flan cracks, Jupiter's thunderbolt is mostly off the flan.... I suspect it would not break 60 - Details if graded by NGC on a modern scale. A 2000 year old piece of silver would be black if not cleaned. Maybe @Volodya will post a few of his gems.
OK. Here are some coins that are absolutely Mint State, with a case for being accurately described as FDC:
Very nice bunch of coins ya got there. I don't think I've seen the Sulla/four wreaths type before. Definitely going on the want list now.
