Opinions Please- Best grading guide on Market?

Manorcourtman

Hello All,

As a recent reborn collector I was wondering what grading book you would advise to a newcomer. I am looking for a guide that explains grading in the MS60+ areas of all coins as well as Proof coin grading. Is there clear definition or explaination of how PCGS grades or is it their little secret? How did you all learn to grade coins in the MS65+, PR68+ levels? I realize it is an experience thing but someone must have written something for us amateurs!

Thanks....Chris (MCM)

foodude

If you were looking for one book, I'd recomend the PCGS book, which I believe is out of print. Copies of the book, however, periodically show up for sale- try ebay. There is no subsitute, however, for looking at coins, preferably thousands of them. It may be easier to start with one type (e.g., MS Morgans as they are plentiful and one of the easiest to grade). Read the book, look at as many PCGS graded coins as you can, read the book again, look at more coins, etc. After you get good at a series or two, try the same thing with other series; ditto for MS v. PR.

I would not recomend learning the differences between different services until you have a good grip on the standars of one service; else it may get too confusing.

Again, you can't learn to grade by just reading a book, it is really gained through experience. You will find, however, the more experience you have the more you will get out of reading the book (i.e., you will have a better, more in depth understanding of what they are talking about in the book).

michael

a great reply as per the above by fudude

for books buy the pcgs coin guide call pcgs and they can tell you where to look for one also i bet ebay has many for sale right now

and just going to an auction preview and asking to look at the specific certified auction lots you can learn much about grading as the services have their assigned grades on the coins you look at literally thousands of coins you most probsbly wqould not be able to look at and examine anywhere else! sitting down like this for an hour or so or until your eyes get tired

also make friends with a collector/dealer you feel comfprtable with and you in your minds eye can trust and go with him to look at coins at the auctions on the bourse at shows in dealers coin shops and get his opinion on coins you look at!

with all of the above you might get a good start

for me evaulating coins takes a good mind/memory, a quality loop and 20/30 years experience looking at coins and specializing thereof then maybe you might be off to a good start

myself i have found even within my specialities i really do not know that much and still have lots to learn!! but a fun road to travel

good luck

michael

bushmaster8

I have to disagree, I think the PCGS book was basically crap, that's why I sold mine on ebay.

You can't learn to grade from a book....experience is the only way.

Datentype

I go along with the Bushmaster. Best way is to get pre graded slabs and then try out some test coins of your own. be picky, picky picky and you will eventually learn after taking several lumps like the rest of us!

lazeroo

I'm with them .

look at lots of slabs and coins to learn how to grade.
your going to have to spend money to send some coins in and
see if they grade at what you thought also. this will help you learn faster.

my only hard time comes with at, and lightly cleaned coins.
there very hard to tell.

Manorcourtman

Thanks guys,

I have been buying slabbed Lincolns but am still amazed at the differences in the grades of 64-66. Some of my 65's look like crap and some look great. Same with the 66's. I buy strictly PCGS so I don't get how they could be so different and get the same grade? Is there a difference in their grades depending on the year? For example, is a 1932 penny given a different set of standards then a 1976? From my collection the Wheats seem to be more loosely graded than the moderns. Just my observation.

One more question..........what loupe would you advise to examine coins with. I use a 16x but I think I need something stronger?

Thanks, C.

bushmaster8

Sounds like you are on the right track. If lincolns are your bag, stick with them. Once you learn to grade one series well, then you can dabble in others- a few at a time. You may find some series more difficult to grade than others. For example, I can grade Franklins and Roosevelts right up there with the rest of them, but always seem to miss with Washingtons, so I avoid them. Very few people have mastered ALL series, and many that have are working for the grading services.

A 16 x magnifier is not generally used for grading. 16x is usually reserved to check for hard to see vatieties, like repunched mint marks, or for counterfeit detection. Most graders prefer a 5 or 7x. Personally I use a 10x. Basically you should use whatever you are most comfortable with. But I feel if you use to high a power (like 16x) you will find every little tick will look like a crater and thus you wont find many coins you feel should be submitted. On the other hand, if you do find coins that have no marks at 16x, they will probably grade out as wondercoins, assuming they are fully lustrous and well struck.

Luster is more important than marks, and you don't need any magnification to get a feel for what blast luster looks like.

Gembens

.....Use the Bible..........pray alot.............and don`t buy ANYTHING from Pepperdoodles !

sinin1

I do not think there is one best one the market -

I dusagree with the people that say you need to look at lots of slabs, because you probably would not know what you are looking for.

3 I have and like

PCGS official guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection - Bowers and Travers

Cameo and Brilliant Proof Coinage of the 1950 tp 1970 era - Rick Tomaska


??? grading mint state coins = Jim Halperin (can't find this one right off - Halperin is Mr Heritage and back in the late 80's early 90's they had their own slabbing service - can't remember its name ?Halmark?





One I want to get in the future - 2 volumes on grading Morgans - Alan Hager (ACG infamy - people say he knows how to grade cery well, just his company sucks)


If you have know idea on strike, luster, eye appeal, nicks - then you can look at MS64's forever and learn nothing

I agree that it is best to try to learn on one series first -

There is a couple week grading course put on by the ANA that is recommended by many (I have never been)

Also most series have a/some books on that series, although they probably will not go into differences between 65-69's

foodude

You can't learn to grade from a book....experience is the only way. And similar responses. I did not say you can learn grading by reading a book, I did say that reading the book and looking at thousands of PCGS graded coins (and then other services) is the way to learn. Looking at coins without any guidance (that's were the book comes in), is not an efficient process. I rarely submit a coin for grading and am surprised or puzzled as to why PCGS graded it the way they did- I'd chaulk that up to experience which was gained by reading the book and looking at thousand and thusands of PCGS graded coins. Both the book and the experience give one a beter idea of what PCGSs standards actaully are.

lordmarcovan

I liked the PCGS book, but the ANA guide is what I reach for when I open a grading book (which I seldom do anymore, usually preferring to "wing it" on experience).

Trouble is, too many of the ANA's grading parameters are exceedingly vague (as were those of Photograde), and the photographs are sometimes no help. Case in point: I recently noticed that the AG Capped Bust half plate coin in one edition looked better than the Good plate coin!

For this reason, I keep not only a fairly recent ANA guide, and occasionally Photograde, but also an older ANA guide with the line drawings instead of photographs. Sometimes the drawings are clearer. I even consult the old Brown and Dunn book occasionally, as that was the standard when I started collecting. (You old-timers remember the mail-order ads that always said "strict B&D grading?")

I think the ideal grade book would include not just photographs but also line drawings for each grade of preservation, in a bigger format like the PCGS book (the ANA and Photograde books, while a more convenient size, sometimes have pics that are a bit too small.)

So I guess what I am saying is that the waters have gotten pretty muddy in recent years, with so many different standards and so many fly-by-night, do-it-yourself slabbers entering the market. My only advice is to keep your own counsel, and learn as many of the most widely recognized standards as you can. If a coin meets all the different standards for a particular grade, you can pretty much assume it's correctly graded, as the more recognized standards usually do not differ much from one another on the basics. If there are any differenceces, it's likely to be on minor details.

Actually, the bulk of my learning to grade came from world coins, and the Krause Standard catalog. Since world coinage is such a huge field, Krause has very general but sensible guidelines for each grade, based on a percentage of remaining detail, which makes sense to me. For example, a Fine coin generally has about 50% detail, while a VF coin will usually have closer to 75% detail. It's vague, but the beauty of this system is that it can be applied to any coin from anywhere, and it's easy to memorize. Using this system, I have found that my grading usually falls in pretty close to that of most of the more recognized American standards, anyway. The British grading standards are much tighter.