Hi guys, I know how to attribute ancients but I have no idea how to grade them. Can you help me figure out the grade for these coins? Would you characterize them as problem free? Thanks in advance. Steve
It’s pretty tough to grade ancients since there’s no “textbook.” id go for a high VF on both. Problem free
The two coins you showed are lovely examples of late Roman bronzes . Is there any particular reason why you want to assign a grade to them? Are you wanting the information for cataloging the coins in your own collection or are you trying to put together an appealing eBay listing? Forum Ancient Coins has a good and traditional guide to grading ancient coins. CNG has some information on their grading here (near the bottom of the FAQs). CoinTalk's @Valentinian (Warren Esty) has an extensive educational website with information about grading here. CoinWeek has a cursory overview of ancient coin grading here, primarily just an overview of NGC's grading system. If you want to adapt the Sheldon system to ancient coins, you can read how NGC has done so here. If you're not comfortable with grading it may be helpful to compare your coins to others to get a sense of how your coin might grade. Good resources for that are CNG's archives and ACsearch, although you'll probably find mostly higher (or high-ish) grade late Roman bronzes there because it's not worth it for them or their consignors to sell low dollar coins. Here are some alternative and perhaps more practical grading systems : https://www.cointalk.com/threads/moruzzi´s-new-detailled-grading-system.345585/#post-3672987 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/gr...-improve-todays-thinking.273720/#post-2328516 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/grading-survey-from-poor-to-fdc.355372/#post-4144482
Thanks for the estimate and advice. FYI, the left is Constantine the first and it was minted in Turkey. It’s Sear 3888 I believe (can't read my own handwriting...attributed it 15 years ago). Roughly translated it says “glory to the army”. The one on the right is Sears 3984 and is Constantine the second. The back, roughly translated says “Divine providence at the 11th hour/last minute ” I'm paring down my collection and I'm trying to decide whether it makes sense to send them to NGC for grading prior to sale or not. They don't fit in well with the direction I'm going with my collection...I know it's not popular among ancient collectors, but I'm slabbing my collection for the sake of my wife and kids. Ultimately I'd like to swap them for one nice silver greek coin (slabbed). Don't hate me.
Neither coin is really worth sending into NGC. Based on the photos (the coins may look different in hand), the Constantine would grade CAU 4/3 and the Constantine II CAU 5/4. Neither coin has much wear. Barry Murphy