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<p>[QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 3720509, member: 101855"]You should buy a copy of the ANA grading guide. You could even buy a ten year old one if you see it in a used book store. The principles are the same.</p><p><br /></p><p>The easiest way to tell an AU from a Mint State piece is to look at the high points of the design. If they are rubbed and a little of the design detail is missing (The really fine detail), it’s not Mint State.</p><p><br /></p><p>Beyond that, learning what mint luster looks like is an indispensable tool. The best way to learn that is to purchase a Morgan Dollar in MS-64 or better. When you swirl the coin under a strong light source, you will see that the coin's surfaces play with the light in a cartwheel type pattern.</p><p><br /></p><p>This exists on all mint state coins, but the Morgan Dollar is one of the places were it shows up best. If that luster pattern is broken, the coin is not truly Mint State. There are Mint State cerified coins that have broken luster. They are not Mint State, but services get away with calling them that.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997285[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]997286[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Note the bright area on both sides of this Morgan Dollar. When you swirl this coin under a light that area will rotate around the piece in a unbroken pattern. There are little scraches and the like. Those don't make the piece less than the Mint State grade, but they do lower the grade in the MS-60 to 70 range.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mint luster results from the many tons of pressure it takes to strike a coin with the dies. I think it takes 100 tons of pressure to strike a silver dollar. During that brief period, the metal flows like a liquid which creates this "cartwheel effect."[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 3720509, member: 101855"]You should buy a copy of the ANA grading guide. You could even buy a ten year old one if you see it in a used book store. The principles are the same. The easiest way to tell an AU from a Mint State piece is to look at the high points of the design. If they are rubbed and a little of the design detail is missing (The really fine detail), it’s not Mint State. Beyond that, learning what mint luster looks like is an indispensable tool. The best way to learn that is to purchase a Morgan Dollar in MS-64 or better. When you swirl the coin under a strong light source, you will see that the coin's surfaces play with the light in a cartwheel type pattern. This exists on all mint state coins, but the Morgan Dollar is one of the places were it shows up best. If that luster pattern is broken, the coin is not truly Mint State. There are Mint State cerified coins that have broken luster. They are not Mint State, but services get away with calling them that. [ATTACH=full]997285[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]997286[/ATTACH] Note the bright area on both sides of this Morgan Dollar. When you swirl this coin under a light that area will rotate around the piece in a unbroken pattern. There are little scraches and the like. Those don't make the piece less than the Mint State grade, but they do lower the grade in the MS-60 to 70 range. Mint luster results from the many tons of pressure it takes to strike a coin with the dies. I think it takes 100 tons of pressure to strike a silver dollar. During that brief period, the metal flows like a liquid which creates this "cartwheel effect."[/QUOTE]
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Thoughts on condition of raw US gold coin pickups
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