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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ksparrow, post: 2042932, member: 7638&quot;]by forum member Jason Poe.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently ordered a copy of this book, and was not disappointed as I read it.&nbsp;&nbsp; As the author makes clear in the introduction, it is not a &quot;grading guide&quot; but rather outlines an approach to the evaluation of coins in a systematic manner, which can be used to arrive at a numeric grade. The factors evaluated in this way are strike, wear, surface marks (which are mostly objective) and luster and eye appeal (which are more subjective).&nbsp;&nbsp; He explains in a thorough way why coins look the way they do.&nbsp; This book is well suited for beginner through intermediate collectors, I believe.&nbsp; Poe covers the basics of studying coins, including the use of proper lighting and magnifying lenses.&nbsp;&nbsp; He then goes over some basic metallurgy and the coin minting process, including the preparation of dies.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Much of the book covers the evaluation of coin surfaces, and in particular the various forms of luster found on mint state coins, and what causes it.&nbsp;&nbsp; I found this very interesting.&nbsp; In addition, Poe has carried out a number of simple experiments to demonstrate wear and the creation of marks on coins, and the effects of different types of cleaning, so that collectors can identify these.&nbsp;&nbsp; He thoroughly discusses strike, die wear, and the deterioration of dies over time and how it is reflected in the final product. After reading this,with some practice anyone should be able to tell a weak strike from worn dies, or both, if they happen to be on the same coin.</p><p>&nbsp; There is a chapter on eye appeal, and on toning along with&nbsp; a&nbsp; discussion of thin film interference (from a physicist I would expect no less!).</p><p>&nbsp; The section on grading discusses the history of the grading scale, how to use it in a general way, and includes an even handed discussion of market grading and the TPG approach to grading, that I found very useful.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The author pulls everything together in the final chapter, &quot;The Grading Method,&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; which I believe if used consistently would help most collectors significantly improve the quality of their collections.&nbsp; The importance of looking at many coins in hand is emphasized throughout the book (so start going to shows folks!).</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The text is illustrated with black and white photos that tie in directly to the topic under discussion.&nbsp; I found the images to be of good quality and useful to understanding the point being made.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; I did not read the book specifically to look for factual errors.&nbsp; One sentence that I think could be clarified a bit is on p. 82 and reads &quot;After the die was hardened in a heat treatment called &#039;annealing&#039;...&quot;</p><p>As I understand it annealing is a heat treatment used to soften metal, either for coining or engraving.&nbsp; Dies were hardened by heating to a high temperature and then rapidly cooling them in a liquid. (This quenching process is mentioned earlier in the book).</p><p>In summary, I think this book belongs on the shelf of every beginning and intermediate collector, along with a standard grading guide, and perhaps Burdette&#039;s &quot;From Mine to Mint.&quot;&nbsp; The $20 price is very reasonable.&nbsp; Read it and then look at coins.&nbsp; A lot of coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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