I'm not very experienced in coin collecting so I have a some questions that I would like to ask. Up until now most of what I know about coins comes from the red book or sometimes other places, recently I decided that it was time to start learning a bit more and find a forum to join which is how I ended up on CT. So I would like to ask some questions about storage, grading and cleaning. I'll start with storage, so far I mostly store the coins I have (which are mostly from the 60s and up) in small bags or in a small plastic drawer and sometimes in rolls. Though my wheat cents I had in a small bag but I ran out of room so I put some of them in a ww2 canteen cup. so is there anything I should improve? I was thinking about getting something to put some of the nicer coins separate so they wouldn't be loose being knocked around with the other coins. Any ideas? And are these holders any good? the next thing to ask, is there anything that I could do for a coin like this? and also what could I do for coins with gunk stuck to them like this? also how do you tell when a coin has been cleaned? Part of the reason I'm asking I because years ago when I was younger I had a few wheat cents that I cleaned with i think baking soda and vinegar and a tooth brush. I don't remember which coins I did except this one. so can you tell it's cleaned and how?
For grading I'm just trying to get a good grasp on what different grades look like. So i have some coins I have taken pictures of and guessed what the grade is, so I would like some opinions on whether I'm correct or off the mark. G-4? F-12? Vf-35? G-4 or vg-8?
I just happened to run across your post from one minute ago so this will likely be the fastest reply you'll ever get. As for storage, it really depends on the condition as to how much it matters. The newer and more luster you're trying to preserve, the more important storage becomes. You'll find products like Intercept Shield that are made to clean the air around the coin while it's stored, but have a service life of 10 years. Need to keep humidity down. An attic isn't a good storage place if trying to preserve originality. Nor a can in the ground. If well circulated copper, just make sure they're not in old pvc pages or flips. For those cents if there's a nicer, rarer date, maybe you want to use a cardboard 2x2 or plastic 2x2 for some and the rest can just go in plastic tubes made for them. Would keep them neater, take up less space and basically seal them from the air. I have a pile of them in a small box. For the corroded cent, looks like a 1910, it's too corroded to save. You may as well turn it into the bank. Same with the 1970-S. No saving and not rare. It would go in my cash in pile. Cleaned coins usually have several tells. Can be one or several combined. Usually on coppers, the color can be off. That 1937 the color is way off. They become a peach color. Also fine scratches or swirls across the surfaces. On silver, a uniformly dull flash across the surface without cartwheel luster when tipping the coin, would indicate it was cleaned at some point in it's life. If a coin is well worn but very shiny it's been cleaned or polished. Being well worn it should no longer be shiny but people clean them to try to make a worn coin more attractive. In the old days cleaning used to be acceptable so a good portion of what was saved did get cleaned and was ok at that time. Eventually that belief changed and did a complete 180 within the hobby. Not as much got through those times unscathed so now original surfaces are highly desired. Many coins have been dipped in a chemical to clean off ugly toning but if handled properly those can still be considered uncleaned. Anything wiped harshly with anything becomes a cleaned coin now and the grading companies will not straight grade it.
The last pictures have scratches and pits. They would not straight grade and would be considered a Details grade only. Check out PCGS photograde. There you'll find illustrations of anything you want showing the progression through grades of any type.
If you sent those to a third party grader, the 1909 would get "Cleaned/Scratched" notation. IF everything else was perfect on it but it only had the one scratch in front of the chin or the V shaped scratch through the date, it would still be called cleaned/scratched. That's all it takes. That 1864 is long gone. It would get a Corrosion/damage notation. Since you're just starting out, you need to explore what is available out there and see how broad of a range it is. You have to see what that originally looked like to know how far gone it is. Original mintage being over 13 million, there are plenty of nice ones left out there for people to purchase. Anywhere from $25 for a lower graded one with decent details to 3 to $400 range for a mint state example. I'd cash it in at the bank.
I think you are in the right place if you are serious about one of the best hobbies known to man. Learn from some of the best here, but read. You sound sincere in your inquiry. @Vess1 has some good advice for you, here is the link to photograde https://www.pcgs.com/photograde. Another link that is helpful is numismedia, it gives you an idea of wht coins are selling at current auctions. https://numismedia.com/rarecoinprices/fmv.shtml Regards.
You need to get a good book on grading coins, or there are a few websites that have grading sections. I would advise to NOT have any of those coins, or ones similar, to any third party grader. A coin should actually be "worth" $100 to send in for grading. By "worth" I mean what you could actually SELL it for, not a price from a book or website
So much to digest and you already have some super answers. I’ll just say off the top that I have been a dedicated collector since the late 1960’s and until the last 8-10 years, the Redbook was my only real reference book. It is every collectors Bible whether just beginning or well seasoned so your resource is sound. I’ll just briefly address storage. This is an area you can really get into the weeds with. You can get as elaborate as you want or as simple as you want. As a general guideline, I would say the bulk of your common, working wheat cents are fine in a bag. But yes, choose more protective methods for your better quality coins…. After all, we are just custodians for the next generation of collectors and it falls upon us to honor that for them. As far as cleaned coins go…. Man, I was the world’s worst as a kid. I found a pencil eraser would make my cents look like new. No telling how many wheats I ruined as a kid and I apologize to anyone that ended up with my destroyed cents. But yes, that pinkish hue is absolutely evidence of harsh cleaning.
I understand that they are in poor condition however I still enjoy having them simply because of the history. Though obviously they have little to no value. Any recommendations for books? Also just to try and clarify I don't really mean third party graders but just grading myself so I have a better understanding of the value (if any) and condition. Like in the red book where it will show a coin (let's say a 1924 wheat cent for an example) and show the value of different grades like vg-8 is $0.40 but but a vf-20 is $0.80. If that makes sense. I don't think I have anything at the moment worth sending off to be graded.
For me the thing that got me interested in coins is history(would you have guessed based on my username?). But I also enjoy the different designs like on the modern quarters as well as having coins from different countries simply because I find interesting to have something from another country. So while my 1864 cent is poor condition I love being able to hold something that old in my hands. Aside from coins I also have something like 600 to 1000 stamps from all over the world and the past 130 years as well as many different pieces of military gear and uniforms from a couple of different countries (mostly US) from the past 100 years. Plus a couple of other odds and ends that are old. So yeah definitely I am a history nerd.
Would these be my best option for individual coins? Also what are some good places to get them? I like being able to look at my coins but I would like to better protect the nicer ones.
I use the Self slabbed coin holders along with the cardboard 2x2's and haven't had any problems so far. Try for examples. Coin Holders | Coin Cases, Boxes, Slabs | Littleton Coin
I am like you. I would rather hold an old coin in my hands and relive the history of that piece than read a book.
