Now that I am done with all of my Mint bag hunts, I've gone back to coin roll hunting. And with my new grading books in hand it is time for me to actually try and catalog my current circulation coins so I know in general what beats what without going in and out of the binder and fighting the 2x2 plastic. So last night I went through a roll and started to write down what I thought certain cents were. I think I found a good baseline coin for feedback and one I can use to compare others with. Ignoring the split plate doubling and the black spots, I wrote it down as an XF-45 due to the tiny wear on the head. The reverse seemed fine to me except for the buttresses which appear to be worn a little and the scratch in the stairs. I am assuming that the process would be how is the coin worn and get a starting grade from that. Then start taking points away from that for the split doubling and the black spots. This is where I need the help. I'd like to know these four things to help me see what effects what. Grade on just the wear of the coin Grade with split plate doubling Grade with black spots Grade for the entire coin Oh, and color! I can't seem to get a concise rule on the color of a cent. Does the color actually kill the grade past AU? The ANA book talks about XF having slight mint luster, but nothing after that. Does that mean that highest a brown cent can ever grade is a VF-30? Thanks in advance for any info.
I see a basic mostly-red Zincoln that I would put solidly in the AU, if not even slider, range. Nice pix, too, though I guess I don't see the point of imaging it. Except as an exercise, which I suppose is your point.
Color and luster are two different things. A brown coin can grade as high as MS-65 and maybe even higher. The ANA book is saying that an XF coin must have some luster.
I must not have ever come across a brown cent that still had luster because all of the ones I have come across are dull which isn't surprising since they were all circulated. I assumed them browning would inherently remove luster due to the metal changing. My old proof cents are still red and lustery. Might need to purchase a cheap brown cent that still graded well or check the LCS for an example (hate when businesses are closed on Sundays). Thanks for letting me know.
I would grade the coin above as a strong XF. It looks weakly stuck, by a worn die. A small amount of wear on the high spots but it hard to tell from photos. There are a number of small black spots and that affect eye appeal.
There is some wear. This is kinda why I picked this specific coin. The wear is very slight in random areas and not constrained to the head. With that in mind would then agree more on the XF grade? Considering your's and @lordmarcovan 's comments, I shall assume that the split plating and black spots are a non-issue if not talking about an MS grade. Ah, I think I understand now. The brown luster is still able to reflect the light and appear to still have a glossy appearance (is that what they mean by bloom?)
Man, I wish I started doing this last year. So much easier than sorting by year and going through 50 coins in a single year to find no keepers. I went from this: To this: The little dry/erase strips I picked up came in super handy. Top is large dates and the middle is for small dates. EDIT: I should note that this is after 5 rolls. Anything under VG or looks like utter garbage in the last 2-3 decades gets thrown in the bin to be rolled.
