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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;afantiques, post: 2385379, member: 71234&quot;]Grading is firstly an estimate of the amount of wear on a coin. Other factors are involved like damage and original mint lustre, etc. but forget them at first. </p><p><br /></p><p>A coin in circulation will wear, the highest points of the design will wear first, often but not always these are fine details so it is pretty easy to say if they are&nbsp; at all worn. Any wear and the thing is EF at best. The more worn, the larger the details that are smoothed away till you get to a metal disc where it is just possible to decide what it once was.</p><p><br /></p><p>Any site or book giving you grading examples for any coin will give you just enough of an insight into the levels of wear to enable you to at least approximatly grade any coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>Some things are trickier, like incuse designs (sunken rather than raised) but most coins are not like this. The finer detail you just pick up as you go along.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a coin selller on ebay I would usually decide what grade a coin was then describe it as one grade lower because ownership always makes you optimistic, see the many ebay listings of F to VF material described as EF or better. I&#039;d try to make the picture really good so the buyer could see for themselves, and I do not recall ever getting any low prices or any complaints.</p><p><br /></p><p>Professional coin graders try to make grading seem as mysterious as quantum physics wheras it is really about as difficult as chopping wood. Collectors the world over do it every day without breaking into a sweat, and lots of money changes hands based on these &#039;home made&#039; grades, but ultimately it is the meeting of minds that have the same opinion that is the striking point for a deal, not what a plastic box has written on it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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