The Tools of a Professional Coin Grader

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While obviously not limited to U.S. coins, this recent article gives a look into the tools that professional graders, and in this specific case, our Director of Numismatic Education and Outreach, use to their advantage when determining the condition of your coins. Whether you’re a novice grader or more experienced, these tips can be beneficial in improving your accuracy.

https://www.pcgs.com/news/tools-of-a-professional-coin-grader

291fifth

I hope some of the new collectors who visit this board will read this article and take it seriously. Learn to grade before you spend any serious money on coins.

Jimnight

Excellent!

johnny9434

thias is a good post

asheland

Cool article and I love those gold examples!

edwardjulio

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Smudge

Good post. Especially the part about knowing the condition of the coin when it left the mint.

Longarm

Good article, thanks.

TurtleCat

It’s an interesting article with nice points. I also noticed that the environment for accurately grading is the opposite of what you find at coin shows. So how would one go about properly grading a coin at a show?

ricko

Excellent article(s) and I would recommend adding it to the permanent post list at the top of the page. Hopefully that way, new members will see it and it won't disappear as posts accumulate. Good, basic, fundamental points. Cheers, RickO

Namvet69

Now how to get newbies to read it. Great info for sure. Peace Roy

MFeld

@TurtleCat said:
It’s an interesting article with nice points. I also noticed that the environment for accurately grading is the opposite of what you find at coin shows. So how would one go about properly grading a coin at a show?

A very small number of dealers make little do-it-yourself covers/tents, in order to view coins in a darker environment. A few others occasionally crouch down and look under the table and/or the table covering.

Even without the above, however, it’s desirable to have as much consistency in light sources and lighting conditions, as possible.

TurtleCat

@MFeld said:

@TurtleCat said:
It’s an interesting article with nice points. I also noticed that the environment for accurately grading is the opposite of what you find at coin shows. So how would one go about properly grading a coin at a show?

A very small number of dealers make little do-it-yourself covers/tents, in order to view coins in a darker environment. A few others occasionally crouch down and look under the table and/or the table covering.

Even without the above, however, it’s desirable to have as much consistency in light sources and lighting conditions, as possible.

Interesting. I haven’t been to many very large shows so I haven’t seen people do that. I agree on the consistent lighting, though. I’ll have to think about how I can apply it to my circumstances.