2007-D,,,,, 78-D Mad,,, Fill MM

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The Three Coin-Grading Buckets

The most misunderstood aspect of coin grading, from the newcomer perspective, is how the grading scale works. Think of it as having three "buckets".

The first bucket is for circulated coins, the second bucket is for About Uncirculated (AU) coins and the third bucket is for Uncirculated (Mint State, or MS) coins. The MS scale (from MS-60 to MS-70) isn't really just a continuation of the previous scale of AU coins. It is a completely separate mini-scale of 11 grades that begins with the "basal state" MS-60 Uncirculated coin. This is an ugly, bag-marked, no-luster dog but it is Uncirculated! By comparison, the AU-58 coin beneath it has attractive eye appeal and nearly full luster. The reason a coin that grades 58 looks much nicer than a coin that grades 60 is because they are really in separate "buckets" of the grading scale.

Likewise, the AU portion of the scale starts at 50 and runs through 59. The AU-50 coin might never have actually circulated in commerce, but because it has scuff marks, has been through several coin-counting machines, and has been handled a small amount, it is no longer in Mint State.

So we put it in the AU bucket and give it the bottom grade of AU-50 if it's ugly, and AU-58 if it's not. This is oversimplifying a little, but it demystifies why the grading scale seems to go from "appealing coins" to "ugly coins" and then back to "appealing".

How to Grade Circulated Coins

The third bucket is the range of circulated grades, from P-1 to EF-49 (although EF-45 is the highest circulated grade you'll probably see actually being used.) Most beginners looking for grading help have circulated coins, and fortunately circulated coins are the easiest for the novice to grade. It helps to have a Mint State specimen of the coin type under consideration to make comparisons to, but this isn't a requirement.