A little help please. I'm trying to learn a little about grading old coins and this seems to be a good place to learn! I've read a recent thread about a 1917 Quarter and learned alot. But when I went to the library and checked out Whitman's 2007 Red Book it doesn't have the detailed grading info that some of the other forum members used in discussing the 1917 Quarter. When I look up the 1853 Quarter I have I find this: G-4 Good- Scant rim. LIBERTY on shield worn off. Date and letters legible. VG-8 Very Good- Rim Fairly defined, at least three letters in LIBERTY evident. F-12- LIBERTY complete, but partly weak. VF-20 LIBERTY strong EF-40 Complete Liberty and edges of scroll. Clasp clear. From there it goes to AU-50, MS-6- and MS-63 but this coin, using these scant definitions, to my untrained eye would be in the VF-20 range. So my questions. Where is the more detailed grading info available? Where would you guys rate this 1853 Quarter? How does the Whitman's book value relate to real world value? Hopefully, if you folks begin to educate me, I want be as bothersome with all these questions.:bow:
I pretty much go by instinct when it comes to grading most of my coins. I don't really get into specifics. This coin looks very fine , Almost Ex Fine. Very nice quarter .
The coin looks to be VF-30 cleaned. I would recommend you pick up a copy of the ANA Guidebook to Grading Coins or the Photograde book. Any of the current of previous volumes should be sufficient to help you in gaining a better understanding of how we grade these coins. As far as the 2008 Redbook values are concerned, they are as accurate as one could expect for something that is only updated once a year. For more current market values, try the Greysheet or Numismedia.
That is a dangerous, and very bad habit to get into. It could cost you a great deal of money over the years. Always, always use a set of grading standards. You can choose whichever set of standards you prefer, but using the same set of standards over and over is extremely important.
I would suggest you start by looking right here - Coin Grading You can learn a lot by using the links found in the Numismatic Resources section.
