I've been spending a lot of time reading this forum, reading grading and nickel books, and scouring heritage and teletrade auctions looking closely at different coins. For example, I'd like to be able to look at a coin and tell if its an MS62, MS64, or MS65, does anyone have any additional guidance?
I'd say to learn the differences between an MS62 vs. MS64 vs. MS65 just look at many many photos of coins in those grades and you'll start to see the differences. Log on to www.ha.com (it's free to get an account) and search the thousands of examples in the auction archives, most with very high resolution photos. Here's the two 1909 examples that I've had: MS64 - good strike, very few marks, but the luster is somewhat subdued - this one is actually nice enough to pass as an MS65 MS66 - great strike and this one has almost no marks and blazes with tons of luster (no 1909 nickels are graded higher than this) MS62 will generally have more hits on the coin, odd spotting/toning and/or weak luster.
The cliche is that anyone can learn to grade, all it takes is a grading guide, a loupe and 10 years of experience. The cliche is a bit hackneyed, but looking at lots of coins, preferably in person will help a good deal. Finding a mentor can help a tremendous amount, however, hooking up with a bad mentor can actually set a person back. Looking at online images will help, but it is not a substitute for examining coins in person. If a person can get to a major coin show, looking at lots of coins on the bourse, up for auction will be of great value. Coin grading 101: examine a coin without a loupe. Look at the obverse, the reverse the rim. Look at the entire coin, tilt and rotate the coins. Get an overall impression of luster, color, strike, and then start in on counting hits and distractions. Only after this, look at the coin with the loupe.
Buy yourself a copy of the ANA Grading Standards and study, study study. You are not going to develop this ability overnight. Don't attempt to become an "expert", because you can't! There are no Experts! Keep reading and grading. Here is a good tool online: www.coingrading.com Enjoy, Tom. Of course all the book knowledge won't help unless you practice, and compare your grading to TPG graded specimens. I thought this was understood, but evidently I was mistaken by some of the latter comments.
the ANA grading standards won't help differentiate between MS qualities well. Best thing is to look at actual coins, and actual grades. :high5:
Don't forget, much of the time you can't even get the pros to agree. Do like the others suggest: - study the books - examine actual coins that have been graded Then form your own opinions (when you get down to whether it's a MS-64 or MS-65, that's more opinion than fact).
And something I recall reading is that on the best struck coins you will be able to see the individual kernels of corn on the left corn. And the toughest part will be not confusing a really nice high AU coin from MS. PS while those are two sweet 1909's - I like the 64 the best, just a more natural color to me.
I know how no other way to do this other than look at thousands of coins I know of no other way to do this other than look at thousands of coins. Even then it will depend on: Which series, classic or modern, copper of not, raw coins, graded already, and how do they often come nice??? Kepping it more simple here is what I do. IMO an MS-60, 61, 62 is a grade given to a problem mint state coin, generally a coin with two many marks, hits, spots etc. These grade coins I do not buy - I've learned that if they do not please me they will not please others and only with a rare coin (there are very few of these) should it be considered. On almost any series you can wait for a high 63, 64. A MS-63 can sometimes be a 64 so it pays to look closely at these. A MS-64 is a nice coin, never a gem but an overall nice coin that will please most who see it. Then an, MS-65 is even nicer than a 64, sometime a lot sometime just a bit. Hope this helps you - don't forget, a true original nice AU-58 is most often a better looking coin than MS-60, 61, 62 and cheaper also.
There are definitely experts. Natural talent, plus training, plus years of experience, looking at thousands of coins in hand, are qualities that most expert graders all share. Some opinions are definitely worth more than others when it comes to grading mint state coins.
I would suggest the OP tries to learn to grade by seeing as many coins in-hand as possible -- as grading from photos is a crapshoot at best, and learning from them even more difficult. Remember the difference in mint state grades is often a result of luster, and photos typically do a very poor job of displaying it. That said, if I were the OP and only could view photos, I would spend all my waking hours staring at Heritage and Teletrade archive photographs of the grades you're interested in. After a while your eyes will become trained in what the TPGs look for, but be very careful as photographs often make hits (i.e. little hits and nicks) look worse than they are in-hand. Good luck...Mike
By way of example, here are the two from my type set: 63 (I would cal this more of a market graded 58 than a "true" 63): 65 (a solid 65, IMO. Lacks luster of a 66):
Yup, AZJack mentioned this a number of times. Sometimes a coin with a really small nick - that in hand is minor and unobtrusive - can look ugly and noticeable in an enlarged photograph.
those are really nice specimens. quick question though, weak struck does not influence the grade does it? obviously it would improve eye appeal and personally I prefer more detailed coins but I've seen a bunch with weak details in the stars and corn that I would pass on regardless of their grade.
i agree with all the comments here and generally don't get how so many collectors can buy (especially high-grade high $) coins at these auctions. even if photos aren't embellished, the high magnification of some of the photos may under-/over-represent blemishes, combined with luster being tough to gauge from the photos, not to mention scratches on the slab itself - all make it somewhat of a crapshoot. even if you have the inspection period, is it common to get a coin from tt or ha that surprises the buyer (either for better or worse). in regards to viewing coins in person, i totally agree and plan to do that as much as possible. i just started looking on-line since it was the easiest thing to start with. my gut feeling is it's difficult to build a collection of unc coins from buying online, especially if you want them all to be somewhat matching grades/tones. i have a number of circulated collections and just recently decided to get back into collecting after a 10-yr break and plan to do vnickels in ms64 or better. so far i am more into good eye appeal versus the slabbed grade so i would take a good looking ms64 over an ugly ms65 any day. i guess this is where it gets more subjective if you are collecting vs. investing.
Or you could take a class at the Summer Session at in Colorado during the summer. They have top notch grading class's there.
In my experience, weak strike doesn't matter on these coins -- at least until you get to the highest of grades (67+). They are almost always weak somewhere. In fact, I would challenge you to find a stronger strike on an '83 no cents (you should be able to find one, but it won' t be easy).
