Paper Money: Guess the Grade

Greetings paper money collectors and welcome to the curious numismatists finding themselves in the paper money forum...

Regulars to the Paper Money section of CT see plenty of threads initiated by new or non-paper money collectors asking, "What is the grade and value of my note, if anything?" Many are themselves coin collectors who understand coin grading to some degree but haven't learned much about grading paper money let alone understand how to navigate the features of a note, how to identify a note in a guide book or look up general price guide estimates by catalog numbers. Many are not immediately aware of how many free resources there are online to answer these questions, let alone do they explore the grading systems of the top third party grading companies for paper money: PMG Notes and PCGS Currency.

We see many 'Guess the Grade' threads for coin discussion, but we don't really do the same with notes here on CT much. Another issue are the various quality of photos of coins and attempting to grade others coins from all manner of good-to-bad pics. Knowing what to look for in bad photos is important especially since so many surf online auction listings for items of interest. It's easy enough to avoid listings with bad images but there may always lurk a nicer piece you'd rather not have missed if not for the poor images. Those who don't buy from the top auction houses with good quality photos or scans are often confronted with poor quality images which complicates personal grading and expectations. Especially notorious are those images ill-composed, that suffer from soft focus, are drastically off-color and those made at severe angles under low light conditions hiding problems from buyers.

In this thread, I'd like both novice and dedicated paper collectors alike to join in and guess the grade of this note. Please stick around and follow this thread for a few days afterward for another round when I reveal better images and finally, the grade this note was given. It can be good practice and educational fun for the new and curious to read others' comments and flex their grading skills too. I know we have several new paper money collectors who are starting out or just expanding into paper for the first foray so hopefully the thread can be of some aid and exercise.

For this example, I am using a note which has been graded by one of the two grading services mentioned above. The note hasn't been posted on CT previously.

• First, I will start by posting this cropped version of the actual images used when this note was sold. Post your grading comments/concerns regarding what you think the note should grade and/or did grade by the TPG.

• Second, in a few days time when posts slow, I will post good scans of the same note for another round of grading, allowing those who so choose to, to readjust comments and grades.

• Third and finally, after a few more days, I will reveal the grade on the holder so we can all see how well the grading experiment went.

The note is an F-2309 Series of 1934-A $10 Silver Certificate, Yellow Seal
WW2 Emergency Issue currency for North Africa and the Mediterranean theaters.
SN: A 99808300 A




Let's refrain from comments/opinions about the TPGs as this isn't a critique of them, their graders and the services they offer, nor a comparison between the various grading companies. Don't worry about the grades you give, they will not offend.

 

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Based on the hard middle fold and over all condition would say VF-25 i have
Some VF-30,s that look better then this from both PCGS and PMG

 

Three vertical folds, one horizontal. Folds across the upper left corner, lower right corner and lower left corner.
Looks like the back might have staining on the lower section around the DO in dollars.

Since I only own two bills graded by a major company I can't be acurate as to what they would grade.
I would guess 20/25, probably going with 25.

 

It appears to be somewhere between these 2 examples;




.....so I'd guess 20 , without any *PQ designation

 

I also was thinking 25.

 

i could only see that one fold, so i said 35

but now i see 3 folds so im guessing 25

 

Thanks for the thread Chris, it will be a good lesson for me since I'm brand new to this. I won't guess a grade because I don't even know what to look for yet, but I'll check in and pay attention to what everybody is saying. Eventually, I'll comment on some of the postings when I feel like I've learned some grading skills from you guys. I appreciate the opportunity to learn.

Bruce

 

Funny thing, I sometimes get annoyed that there are so many grading threads on the site. But... when I saw one for currency I got excited (they don't happen very often). Thanks for the thread.

 

I think it is much easier to hide issues with currency. It would be much better to do this with raw notes in hand. That said at least it provides a basis to recognize how conditions that are not intentionally hidden affect grade. I guess my point is that just because you develop a comfort level here take caution when applying it to an online purchase of a raw note.

 

You can try to familiarize yourself with the grading ranges at the links for PMG and PCGS I gave in the first post.

 

I was thinking the same thing. That there was an imbalance and we might try to do one with paper money.

Thanks everyone who has commented so far, your feedback is exactly what I was hoping we could help others and all benefit from reading.

 

Bump for the evening...

Since we have had a lot of posts already, I will give this a little more time then I'll post the second round pics later tonight. These will be good scans for reevaluating your grades.

 

Part two

This is the same note as above, F-2309 1934A $10 Silver Certificate - North Africa and Mediterranean Emergency Issue currency from WW2. It was scanned in the TPG holder which has been cropped to hide the grade for now.

Have a look and feel free to readjust your earlier grades, comments, thoughts...

Remember we are helping new paper money collectors, the curious and just having a fun exercise guessing the grade of this note:





Thanks for all the comments posted thus far. :thumb:

 

I am not surprised that the main vertical creases and the top left corner fold are more visible now.
I am surprised that the crease that I thought was on the bottom left (just inside the Ten10) isn't there on this picture.
A couple of new things I notice are all on the back...
1) slight staining on left edge
2) white dot on bottom edge (under the T in ten)
3) miscut of back (partially hidden in first picture due to part of bill being cropped out of picture)

overall I think I am still staying with 25.

 

Could you please explain to me what a "miscut" is camlov2, I'm new to currency collecting. I do see the other points you're making though. Thanks.

Bruce

 

The reverse is not well centered

I am also sticking with 25 but I am stingy with grades after being around Doug for so long!

It is cleaner than the first pics revealed.

 

Nothing major to convince me other wise still on the VF-25 tract

 

If you look at the back of the bill you should be able to see (in the new pictures) that the right border is about twice as large as the left. I guess a better word then miscut would be misalignment. The first pictures were cropped to hide this issue (could have been accidental or on purpose).

 

The second set of photos/scans is better focused, and I appreciate Krispy giving us a second chance to view the note. After visiting the TPG websites, and reviewing the grading standards, I'm going to stay with my VF20 guess. Thanks again Chris...I can't wait for the results.

 

I see it camlov2. Thanks for the explanation.

Bruce