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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 103037, member: 57463&quot;]<b>Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We could have an entire Forum on grading.&nbsp; If you want to know, there are books out there that you should own, such as the ANA Gradiing Guide, the PCGS Grading Guide, and so on.&nbsp; The basics are the same -- as you know.&nbsp; The devil is always in the details.&nbsp; Even The Red Book has at least quick guidelines for grading.&nbsp; As for &quot;how many scratches lower the grade&quot; that is the Big Question.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>If you are an ANA member, you can borrow for free (postage and insurance both ways; no charge for the rental per se) the ANA videos on Gradiing.&nbsp; Their grader and authenticator, J. P. Martin (now with ICG) explains over and over why that mark on that coin is detracting but this mark on this coin is not.&nbsp; It takes work and practice.</p><p><br /></p><p>For an online resource, try this book by Jim Halperin of Heritage:</p><p><a href="http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I still recommend a real book.&nbsp; You need something you can use at a desk with your coins, something you can highlight, underline, make notes in, put stickies in, etc.&nbsp; The ANA Grading Guide is perfect for that.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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