At work this morning I got a register and began opening up the coin rolls. I opened the roll of nickels and found a 1939 that is in great shape, much better than previous 1939's I have found. It's a little dirty on the front but most of the detail is still there including some of the steps. I'm not really good at grading coins, would this be considered AU or BU, or something else? Any help would be appreciated!
at best ! More like VF to me. It doesn't make any difference with Jeffy nickels or Roosy dimes, most Washington quarters, Franklins, Kennedy halves... if it ain't high mint state, there is no real difference between VG and EF. I never bothered with the fine points of grading things like this that don't matter. Concentrate on grading this modern crap as MS-63 or MS-67 not VF or EF, grading circulated moderns is a colossal waste of time, so I don't even bother personally.
The glare on Monticello makes it a bit hard to be sure but I think it's in the EF range as well. You might this site helpful John : http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/Jefferson/Grades It will help you get more comfortable with grading (& that is never a waste of time ).
The coin in question has basically no numismatic value. Even if a price guide says it is worth $0.25, could you actually get someone to pay you a quarter and is it really worth your time to do so?
Yes, I ignored that the post is in 'What's it Worth'... The OP's a new collector & new to the forum, who's exposed to a lot of circulation coins at work, so learning to grade circulation coins, I believe, would be helpful to him & likely increase his enjoyment of the hobby.
You can't blame Lehigh96 for mentioning worth when it's in the "What's it Worth" forum. That just goes without asking.
It also bears mentioning that every collector I have ever seen who tries to collect via change or roll hunting does it for the sole purpose of finding a coin of value. I don't think anyone is going to convince me that the OP is really trying to learn how to grade circulated Jefferson Nickels.
Not everyone can afford to buy ms coins. Myself included, I collect xf-au late date lg cents. Personally I prefer a goocd au to a ms60. We need to encourage new members and collectors, that it is ok to collect what THEY like! After all it is their collection.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Sorry for going off topic. Xf-45 nice change find.
