Hi, I bought these 2 gold 20 Franc Rooster gold coins on eBay. I have no idea how to grade them. Are these AU or UNC? What is the approx grades of these 2 coins? Coin 1: Coin 2:
First off, I love French coins with rooster designs! Gorgeous! One way to distinguish AU and UNC coins is to tilt the coin in front of a light and see if there is still the "Cartwheel" effect, an indication of whether a coin has its mint luster or not. If you can get a full cartwheel around the coin, then all of the mint luster on the coin remains, and then we can move into MS (Mint State) territory. I think. Let's see what some of the more qualified members on this forum think.
The pictures really aren't good enough to tell although they appear uncirculated from the pics that are there. To really make a determination you need a good clear centered photo of both the obverse and reverse of each coin.
How do I take nice photos with coins? I used iPhone to take these shots. I also has a SLR but not a macro lens.
The term "Mintstate" should mean its has seen no circulation/handling/ yet may have bagmarks. European/UK auction firms equate a slabbed coin that is MS-60/61/62 as EF. Well 63/64/65 are about UNC. The MS-66 and higher are FDC/Mintstate. Your posted coins seem in 64/65 grade. I have seen Kunker even grade slabbed 66 coins as "fast stempelglanz=about UNC! Grading is all over the board....
Hover over the blasted bloody thing and get a clear 'in focus' shot........we'll take it from there.........
These are lovely coins! Assuming they have continuous luster, they would fall within the 62-65 range in US grading. (The angle you have used with the light tends to hide a lot of surface marks.)
Here are some from my collection which you can use for comparison. They are scans so the true luster does not show. I estimated the first three to be BU and the last two to be UNC. I'd be curious to see if other agree.
Comments like this are common and you'll find them in books, articles, websites, forums - basically all over the place and about all coins. However, these kind of comments are somewhat misleading, here's why. Say you have an AU58 coin. And AU58 will typically only have very slight wear on 1 or more of the high points on the coin - but not always. What I mean very slight wear can occur anywhere on the coin, low points and even in the fields. But regardless of where the slight wear is, if you rotate an AU58 coin under a light the luster on the coin will still cartwheel all around the coin - exactly like it does on an MS coin. THAT'S the problem. And the same thing is true with AU55 and even some AU53 coins. What I'm trying to get across is that the luster cartwheeling around the coin doesn't really tell you if the coin is MS or not. All it tells you is that yes there is enough luster there to make it cartwheel. What you have to do to identify an MS coin is to look for breaks in the luster, and what that means is to look for spots (and by spots I mean small areas) where the luster is not there. And you do that by slowly rotating and rolling a coin under a light - an incandescent light. And that's important because incandescent light will show you breaks in the luster that you may not see under other kinds of light. So what's a break in the luster look like ? It can be dull looking, it simply won't reflect the light the same way adjacent areas do. Sometimes it may appear to be a slightly different color than adjacent areas. Other times it can even be flat and or smooth, when it's not supposed to be. But however it looks, it will look distinctly different than the adjoining areas that do have luster. Now somebody is going to say, OK, what about weak strike ? And here's the thing with weak strike, a weakly struck area will not show luster either, and it will look different than adjoining areas that do have luster. But it will also look different than wear. A spot of wear will be flat and or smooth, dull looking, a different color than areas that have luster. A spot that is weakly struck will have a texture to it, it can be a bit bumpy, or even rough looking. And it will also be a different color than luster. And in regard to color a spot that is weakly struck will be slightly lighter than a spot of wear. So yes, weak strike can be differentiated from wear - provided you take the time and care to do so.
I took these photos using a Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro lens hand held. Any idea of their approx grades? Coin 1: Coin 2: Coin 3:
I also love roosters, generally speaking. And my Secret Santa who could not possibly have known that just happened to send me (among other goodies) a 1950 20 Franc coin which I am enjoying although I have not removed it from the flip yet to see up it close and personal. It is not gold but it is beautiful. Actually, now that I think about it, I am not sure what the metal content is. I will have to go check that. Here is a photo of it.
These appear to be attractive coins. They each appear to have just the slightest amount of rub on the high points, so I'd call them high end AU. There isn't really any trick to grading these compared to any other coin - you grade them the same. Strike/luster/wear/eye appeal/contact marks.... if you understand those, you can grade any milled coinage.
