General Coin Grading Advice - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,016
Babar Valued Member Pakistan 207 Posts	Posted 12/06/2012 3:35 pm Hey everyone! I'm still relatively new to all this formalised coin collecting technobabble and stuff, but I figured it is a good idea to fix that. I get the general idea of coin grading, but I wanted to get a little more specific. So I got together a "range" of coins I have, and ordered them in what I figured was worst to best (right to left). While I realise that you should be able to check out the coin personally, both sides, edge, feel, etc. to make a proper judgement, but since this is just an exercise in increasing my understanding, just assume that the other sides are about the same, or maybe better. The top row are all aluminium coins, which is probably why they got so damaged so easily (the coin underneath is copper-nickel). I do most of my trading online at numista, which uses the European system, I think, so I am trying to stick to that. (click to see them in full size, please) I figure from right to left it'd start out at "Poor", "Poor", "Fair", "Fair", "Good", "Very Good", "Fine", "Extra Fine" and then "Very Fine" underneath. Would that be about right? The leftmost coin has a little ding that you can slightly see on top. Would that then make it VF or F? If it didn't have that ding would it be XF? Or higher? Thanks in advance for the help! Edited by Babar 12/06/2012 3:37 pm Report this Post to the Staff

Pertinax Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 2133 Posts	Posted 12/06/2012 6:13 pm It's very difficult to do from such small (even when enlarged) photos. However, I think (going right to left) Poor, Good, VG, F, Good Fine, almost XF, Good VF, Good XF (or AU with full lustre), and underneath, good VF (but not as good as the one above). I wouldn't drop a grade for a little ding, but I would certainly point it out if I were selling it. Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 12/06/2012 6:25 pm Quote: So I got together a "range" of coins I have, and ordered them in what I figured was worst to best (right to left). What I thought was odd was right to left. For some reason most people in the USA would say left to right. We read left to right but, and not being a linquistiv, I suspect others may read right to left. Not sure, since I'm not familiar with those coins, but naturally the one on the far left is close to Uncirculated. Left of the last one in the row, not the last one but next to that should be AG-4 or less. I think the 3rd from the left is better than the 2nd from left so I'd go with about EF-40+ on that one but only a EF-40- on the 2nd from the left. The 4th, 5th and 6th from the left are really close and possibly all could go about F-12 to VF-20. However, I'm a lousy grader myself and not familiar with those coins so my reply may be also a lousy reply. Report this Post to the Staff
jakedacc Pillar of the Community Canada 1177 Posts	Posted 12/06/2012 11:10 pm you will need better pictures of the obverse and reverse Report this Post to the Staff
Babar Valued Member Pakistan 207 Posts	Posted 12/07/2012 01:38 am Thanks for the advice so far! Carl, I actually laid the coins out left to right on the scanner, but realised once it was scanned that that makes the image show from right to left. Pertinax, I was going to scan them at 600 dpi, but I figured 300 would be okay. When I get home, I could scan them again at 600, but as I said, this was mostly just a learning exercise for me. Report this Post to the Staff
jeffrose Pillar of the Community United States 1432 Posts	Posted 12/07/2012 09:40 am Babar . . I also use a scanner for my coins. I am sort of the family photographer for gatherings and think I do a respectable job but I have yet to take good coin pics. My advice to you is to use the highest resolution available and then to reduce the file size to meet the forum requirements. Most of the coins I have shown here were scanned at either 2400 or 3200 dpi. This allows members to enlarge our small images and still have the resolution needed to arrive at a fair grade. Report this Post to the Staff
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