Hi, As a novice, I am unsure on how to grade this coin. Looking at like coins at HA I would have guessed VF30, only because, it would appear allowance is given for low mintage. It does have some crud ( dark areas) and 2 small vergris spots on the back at 7:30. I am leaning towards NCS for cleaning and grading? Sage advice welcome!
Hi, Here is Rick Snow's website, the menu bar there has a "grading" icon, which downloads a nice .pdf file with large photos that will help with grading. Also there are some wonderful references there. http://www.indiancent.com/ Jim
The IHC grading guide on Rick's website is indeed a great resource. You should note though that sometimes the third party graders are sometimes a little more liberal in grading IHCs than the grading standards set forth in Rick's guide, especially in the circulated grades. The link below is a link to my 1908-S IHC PCGS Grading set that gives you an idea (but not a 100% clear picture since some are arguable under or over graded) of how PCGS grades Indian Cents: http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=770 Based on what I see in PCGS holders, I think your coin is a VF20-VF25, but I would probably give NCS a shot at treating those spots first (depending on their fees) as the spotting on that coin looks pretty serious and may get worse w/o treatment. Always nice to have a key date though, congrats