Grading question

ajman

In general terms, how many contact marks does it take to net grade a coin, and does it matter that they're well concealed? For example if a coin has the detail of an XF 40 or 45, but has 3 or 4 noticable bag marks, do the grading services downgrade one grade or two
? How does that work. Thanks.

coinguy1

There is no one answer to that. It depends on factors such as the size and location of the marks, the size of the coin, how conspicuous the marks are, etc. Generally speaking, however, on a circulated coin, the marks have to be quite bad/distracting to result in a downgrade. If there is a particular coin you are wondering about, perhaps you could post images?

ajman

Thanks for your reply Mark. I will post some images later this morning. The coin in question is a Lincoln cent, and there are 3-4 marks are in the hair detail, and one in the right obverse field.