For my own edification, how do you judge the quality of an INDIAN cent-- Overall details, color, grade, # of diamonds, full LIBERTY, % of head dress remaining? I received a bag of several 1000 I haven't touched yet as I do not know the answers above. Please help if possible
I learned by purchasing the "Official A.N.A. Grading Standards for United States Coins". It isn't expensive and it will answer all your questions.
Thanks...I've seen too many other books, articles, pages whatever that were contradictory and at best hard to follow. Will give this one a try
Jason Poe's "The Art And Science Of Grading Coins" goes into explicit detail about how to evaluate all coins from a scientific and technical approach. I believe it is the newest and most fresh grading guide currently available. After that, The Official ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins describes the grading of all U.S. Coin series. Grading circulated coins is based mostly on the amount of wear on the coin, mint state coins are graded based on the number of marks, luster, strike, and eye appeal. But this is a very simplified explanation.
This one (Official ANA Yadda Yadda, 7th Edition) is fine for circulated grades. Grading ALL mint state coins is part art, part science, and part "dark arts". NO book has it nailed, NONE! Now consider 19th century coins. It's, like, 80% "dark arts", because it entails a multi-axis analysis of 5 or so factors, and sometimes they work in concert, but often in opposition. If that sounds scary, congratulations, you understand.