Here should be an easy one. 1. 1878-P 2. 1889-O 3. 1902-P 4. 1903-P Grade each one, and please share why you have chosen the grade.
nd, thank you for taking the time to do this.. its making me look and read. 1. ag- rim is merging with letters. coin is identifiable. 2. vg8- rim is starting to merge with letters. liberty has more than three letters that are showing. coin shows cosiderable wear. 3. f12- even wear. rim is bold. liberty fully visible. lettering bold. 4. ef40- (cant see eagle) slight wear in hairline. rim and lettering bold.
What would be the worth of those coins? Would it be for the silver, or is there some numismatic value to them?
Morgan's will always carry a premium above the silver content if it can be identified. POG, you are one tough grader. A bit off though. If you have a grading book, print the photos and place it next to the book.
1. G-4 2. VG-8 3. VF-20 4. Hard to say from the photo, but I am going to guess AU-55. Looks like the coin has wear as opposed to a weak strike. Hard to say though.
Forgot to share... 1. G-4, not AG. Would have called it AG with more wear on the rim. 2. Not quite fine, would have wanted to see a little more definition in the hair line and the cotton. 3. To make VF-30 would have wanted to see more definition in the leaves and more detail in hair.
1. G-4. Better than AG-3. Not quite VG-8. 2. EF-40. Hairlines strong and ear bold. 3. AU-50. Some wear and may still have most of mint luster. 4. MS-61. Surface marks on face probably drop the grade on this one.
Some of you are very close, and others are tough. I am sure glad that the industry doesn't grade that tough Okay here is how we had them. 1. Weak G-4.....retailed at $6 2. VG 10..........retailed at $11 3. VF-30..........retailed at $15 4. MS-63.........retailed at $55 These were all sold at different times, so current values will not apply. If sold today, they may have different values. The 1903-P had orange peal toning. Absolutely beautiful in person. The photo showed too much of the reflection of the 2x2.
I like Photograde, but why does it stop at AU? I did not post my answers but I had the same grades as did GOLDEAGLE.
The biggest reason to stop at AU is that MS coins are seperated by small differences including luster. That cannot be seen in photos.
Is there any type of reference material that can be used to identify MS coins? I can't afford to buy a set of MS60 - MS70 coins to compare. Being that grading is somewhat opinionated, even with the BIG graders, how do you learn to grade?
One of my best bets for learning how to grade in the 60's-70 is to try an off time for my trusted dealer. If you spend time trying to learn, and find the right partner, you should be able to look through uncirculated stock to sharpen your eye. I spent an hour a weekend for a month and a half before I was able to determine differences in 2 point increments. (63-64 kind of stuff) It will be years before I can look at a coin in person and know. But looking through uncirculated stock at your local dealer and in the slow times, asking if your guess on a coin is right will pay off in spades later on. Hope this helps. Cris
What CohibaCris suggests is a good idea - it is always easier to learn if you have someone showing you how to grade and why one coin is this grade and another coin that grade. But there are other ways as well. But no matter what method you use - you have to closely examine thousands and thousands of coins to be able to grade accurately. For those who wish to take the time and expend the effort you can teach yourself. It requires a few books and reading as much as you can. I prefer the ANA Grading Guide but I have read them all numerous times. There are also several resources available on the internet. And the ANA has home study courses as well as courses that are given in person by some the best numismatists in the country. While you can learn the basics in a fairly short time - the intricacies of grading take years to learn. It is best to try and learn a particular series at first and then branch out into other series of coins for they are all different. And as has been said coins of different mints and different years, even within the same series are graded differently. As an example you could have a 1914-P Buffalo nickel graded MS64 and a 1926-S Buffalo nickel that looks to be a much lower grade if compared to the 1914-P - but actually grades MS66.
Grading is like anything else in life...the more you do it, the better you'll get. Remember that dealers (and some long time collectors) have looked at literally TENS of thousands of coins over the years...more than that for some. And GRADERS look at coins all day, every day, racking up hundreds of thousands of coins that pass through their hands. Want to learn the difference between 63 and 64? LOOK at a lot of coins...study them closely. Then look at a lot more. Another idea that works is to keep slabbed coins from your favorite series in different grades. You can even carry your "grading set" around to shows, etc. Just remember that all series are graded differently, and there's concessions to be made for certain years or mints...but a grading set is better than nothing. If you don't want to tie up money in such a set you can always collect closeup photos of graded coins. Again it's a very basic guideline but is still better than trying to "wing it". Nick
Thanks for the info everyone. I was considering offering myself as an "apprentice" to the local coin dealer. As long as he does not say "Your Fired" I think I can learn a lot.
