Grading Lincoln Cents
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This is unfamiliar territory for me. What does one look for to give or subtract points when grading high end unc. wheat cents?
Feel free to guess the grade of this one. I know the photo is somewhat lame. The vertical bright line to the right of the portrait is a reflection.
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Hard to tell from the size, but it looks like a nice 66RD from here. At these levels they look for luster and hits/marks in the focal areas (which are hard to see in the photo).
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/2819
Looks like a 65 red to me nice looking coin on a better date
HAPPY COLLECTING
Yeah. Experience tells me it's a 65 red but it's so pretty from here it could be 67.
You look for scratches, hits, spots, which can be black, brown or worst of all, green, and signs of toning which might be growing. You also look for signs of wear, especially on the high points like Lincoln's cheek bone or shoulder. All of those things, which can distractions, lower the grade.
The coin you posted looks like a Red Uncirculated Gem (MS-65 to 67). When you get the really high grades, only a personal inspection can verify them.
Agree; looks like a 66.
PCGS is strict on fields, coin can have hits on bust but fields must be squeaky clean.
They're also pretty harsh on a lot a chatter on "O" of "O"F on reverse, or on struck through planchet inperfections in those areas which look like basically the same thing.
Look for light long hairlines in fields---they will kill the coin for those, but a scrape on the head or jaw will be overlooked if it blends in with the coin.
I'm still learning here, thanks for all of the input
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Thanks for the valuable feedback! Not a series I collect but it looked pristine pure red so I bought it. Its a MS66RD and now I will break out the glass to look for where 4 points are lost.
The points weren't "lost"--they were never there or never even considered to be there. That is never a thought in the grading process........unless, perhaps one is prescreening ASEs or such.
It's necessary to know that when graders evaluate (grade) a coin, they don't start at 70 and start subtracting for imperfections.
This is a quite common misconception on how coins are graded.
When a good or even a professional grader looks at a coin, a number pops into her/his head in a matter of a half second or so, and then they tweak their gut reaction from that reference point. So, you pick up the coin, rotate it quickly....ok, that's a 5......grab a low power loupe...prove or disprove your initial perception.
That is all it is.
That's what we pay them for.
After hits and spots I've always zeroed in on the strike, Show me some bow tie !
Strike, luster and marks/stains/fingerprints.... Nice coin in a good grade. Cheers, RickO