Hey all... in my collection, I have many duplicate coins. Being as I did not build this collection, I presume the duplicates have been replaced by superior quality coins. But when I attempt to confirm this by comparing the duplicate coin to the existing coin, I am not always sure the duplicate is the inferior of the two. For example, I was checking a 1904 5 cent piece, and the existing G coin looks better than the duplicate VG coin. Perhaps that is why the G remained and the VG was put in the duplicates box. Others are clearly upgraded to AU and MS while the EF and G duplicate has been replaced. also, I have an Unc Kennedy half dollar, but the collection piece is B/U. Now while I am still a novice, I don't recall seeing B/U. Terrible hand writing perhaps, should be A/U? (without red book handy, is Unc better than AU? Actually, I often see grading terminology beyond the standard Good, Fine, Unc. AU and MS. Where can I read and learn about the variations of the existing grading standards? thanks, I'll tell you about my attempts to repackage some of them soon.
Two books - "ANA Grading Standards" and "How to Grade US Coins" by Jim Halperin There are many others.
Hey TRT2! All this terminalogy can be confusing at first. This might clear some of it up. BU stands for Brilliant Uncirculated and it is a condition not a grade. Gem Brilliant Uncirculated is also not a grade but a condition, along with "Choice" and Choice Gem". Get the Red Book to learn about the different grades and what they mean with respect to the different coin types. The Red Book is just a giude and there are better specific books to learn more in depth info on grading. Take your time and "learn" about what you are reading. If you learn this stuff you can call upon it down the road at will. It takes many, many years and 10000x as many coins to become an expert or at least proficient at grading. Good Luck and Keep on Collecting!!!
ah... condition vs grade. Thus the B / U. using the slash / to delimit the two pieces of information presented. so a B/U is superior to simply Unc. To confirm, each coin can have both? Condition and grade. Yes, I am reading (and re-reading) the red book. thanks, I value your input.
It appears no one said WELCOME TO THE FORUMS. As noted, purchase a book called the RED BOOK. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on books just yet, check out flea markets, used book stores, etc for an older issue. The information on what is what is still the same. As to why you see what you see. I noticed you mentioned you did not start this collection. I would presume you either inherited, purchased or was given the entire collection. Possibly could have stolen it too. Regardless you may well be correct that a duplicate is better than the one in the set or album. As a coin collector for many, many years AND being old and a little lazy, I do the following: Example is say Lncoln Cents. I have 10 completed sets in Whitman Classic Albums and several boxes of 2x2's for duplicates. So now I go to a coin show and purchase a 1931S Lincoln Cent in MS-65. I go home and notice set #1, 2 and 3 all have the same or better. So now this new coin goes into #4 and the one from 4 to 5, from 5 to 6, 6 to 7. By this time I am tired but persist to maybe #9. Then I say to myself, SELF, are you nuts? So then the last one now goes into a 2x2 and is put into the box of 2x2 duplicates. Note set #10 now has a lesser coin than the duplicate in the 2x2 box. Same with such coins as Mercury Dimes, Buffalo Nickels, etc. To sum it up whoever had that collection originally was probably like me. Who cares what set #8 looks like anyway. I've got over 100 albums and get tired easily.
Generally speaking, a coin described as BU (the grade for a BU coin should be around MS-63 to MS-65) is more desirable than one described as simply Unc. (the grade could be anywhere from MS-60 all the way on up to MS-70). Likewise, a coin described as Gem BU (the grade for a Gem BU should be around MS-66 on up) is generally more desirable than a normal BU coin. Be careful though, since dealers who use print advertisements for coins (such as in Coin World) tend to throw the terms BU, Choice BU, Choice Gem BU, Gem BU, etc. around very loosely. Although there is no 'set' grade for a coin described as BU, it should fall within a general grade range as noted above. Condition and grade are basically the same thing. However, as someone else mentioned, there is grade, and then there is something called 'eye appeal'. You can't really quantify eye appeal, as what constitutes eye appeal differs from person to person. Generally, good eye appeal means no distracting marks or dings, attractive toning (or no toning at all, often called 'blast white luster'), even color, and even wear (if circulated). So, even though you might have two coins in completely different grades, say XF and MS-60, the XF may have much greater eye appeal (even color, even wear, etc.) than the MS-60 coin, for even though the MS-60 coin is uncirculated, it may have very ugly toning, many bag marks (from being in a mint bag with many other coins of the same type; more of a issue with larger, silver coins), etc. In other words, just not very attractive overall. Good deal. Can't tell you how many times I've thumbed through my copy, re-reading bits here and there that I need tor brush up on!
BU (not B/U) = Brilliant Uncirculated AU (not A/U) = About Uncirculated (i.e., very lightly circulated) You must first understand the above definitions and what the 'A' and 'B' mean. These are not A, B, C, etc. as in letter grades (e.g, grades in school where A is better than B which is better than C).
TRT; Also go to Whitman Publishing and get: ANA Grading guide http://www.whitmanbooks.com/Default.aspx?Page=81&ProductID=0794819931 or: NGC Grading Guide http://www.whitmanbooks.com/Default.aspx?Page=81&ProductID=0794819109
Welcome to the forum! The others have been giving some very good advice, I'd read it well. Best of luck to you! Phoenix
Welcome aboard! I tend to do my upgrading by bringing the coin that I want to upgrade with me. That way I can do a side by side comparison. Of course this works best when visiting a physical venue, as opposed to 'net based ones. Glad to have you!
Hey umtrr-author... I thought I recognized your id. I had to jump to other board to confirm. Trains and coins... dang! Two expensive hobbies.
