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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jody526, post: 22700, member: 578&quot;]One way is to get the book; &quot;Official A.N.A. Grading Standards for United States Coins&quot;, and study it over and over, then refer back to it any time you have a doubt.</p><p>Another good book is &quot;Photograde&quot;, by <i>James F. Ruddy</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, the quality control standards at the Mint leave a lot to be desired. That&#039;s one reason why I stopped buying from them. Now if I want a certain modern Mint product, I will buy it on the secondary market from a trusted dealer who will assure me that it is a problem-free item.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The grade? That would depend on the individual coins, but it really doesn&#039;t matter. The point is, defective merchandise, is just that; defective. Always buy your coins from a reputable source that will guarantee the quality and accept returns for purchases that you are unhappy with.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Developing a skill for grading uncirculated Morgan dollars isn&#039;t easy. Each issue (date/mintmark) has it&#039;s own individual characteristics.</p><p>The first thing you should do is to learn to differentiate between circulated and uncirculated. Study the books I have mentioned, and then buy a couple of specialized books on the series you are interested in.</p><p>There really are no shortcuts to learning. There&#039;s also a lot of misinformation out there. For instance; someone said that the Liberty nickel, in the auction above, was circulated because some of the stars didn&#039;t show full details. This, of course, isn&#039;t true, but it just goes to show you that you can&#039;t believe everything you read.</p><p>Take your time, learn all you can, and never be afraid to ask questions.</p><p>You will make some mistakes, but as long as you learn from them, you will benefit.</p><p>Good luck![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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