Another Newbie Question

Bigpomaha

Where can i find the difference in the grading designations? Not sure what is a MS, FS, and the others and what the + means. Sorry for the annoying questions. Thanks in advance.

P

braddick

A nice start:
https://www.grandrapidscoins.com/introduction-to-coin-grading/

AUminer

The "+" can be thought of as a half grade. For example a MS64+ is half grade between a MS64 and a MS65. Another way it can be explained is that a coin is just short of making the next grade up (in this example a MS65), so it is assigned a MS64+. The link that @braddick provided will give you a much broader understanding of the grading process.

TomB

You would likely also want to invest in buying a Red Book. It's a great introduction to most everything about US coinage and I would imagine nearly all of us who have studied coins over the years either started off with one of these books or eventually purchased one. They come out annually, but you only ever need to buy one and then perhaps buy another a decade or two later. They might cost $15-$20 now and can be found in most major book chain stores or easily ordered online. If you don't want to buy one then your local library will almost certainly have multiple copies that you can borrow.

Good luck!

lilolme

There is some information in the Resources thread that is pinned to the top of the US Coin Forum. (Link below)
The information/links are in the OP or first post on first page (and some throughout).
Go down to Grading and there are some links. One is for the PCGS YouTube grading videos.
Also down to PCGS Links and go to Grades and Photograde links.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1006619/resources-books-links-to-read-on-numismatic-series-errors-and-varieties/p1

Morgan White

PCGS guide

https://pcgs.com/photograde

JWP

The Redbook is a great starting point.