What Are The Numbers

I think the number it on the scale of 1-70. 70 Being perfect



yes but was wondering how it relates to a lower grade ie VG30? I see the logic compared to say a MS70, but not sure how relates to lower grades, I'm guessing the higher the number the closer to the next grade up ?

quote..At the other end of the scale the equivalent perfectly struck coin with absolutely no damage or wear whatsoever, was found on average, to have a value in the market that was 70 times as great



Thanks for post,are you saying that MS70 a perfect coin would sell or be worth 70 times the value of a MS.. not sure if this is correct?

Also say a VG30 does that mean the value is 30% above a VG ? thanks for any clarifications... j, check back later

The numbers are known as the "Sheldon Scale"; it's simply a different way of writing down the grade, using numbers rather than letters. "40" means the same as "EF": extremely fine.

It's origin: in a book about early American cents written in 1949, W.H. Sheldon discerned a formula between condition and price. His book only listed prices for "basal state" (worn flat) coins; prices for coins in better condition could be estimated by taking the basal state price and multiplying it by the Sheldon number. Thus, a coin in EF-40 condition was worth twice as much as a coin in VF-20 condition, and 40 times as much as a worn flat coin of the same type. The system has evolved slightly since then, too; basal sate "BS-1" is now called poor "PO-1". Here is the Scale as it is now used by PCGS; other grading companies in north America all use a similar scale, though each has their own modifications.

Of course, the relationship between price and condition is no longer quite so simple, even for the early US copper cents the scale was designed for use with. A coin in MS-67 is worth far, far more than a coin in MS-60. Yet the numbers are retained, out of tradition.

The British grading company CGS UK couldn't care less about the Sheldon Scale or other coin grading traditions the North Americans observe; their numerical grades use a 100 point scale.

I don't really know why numbers are so important in grading coins these days. Maybe they like the way it makes coin grading look all scientific and statistical, rather that the dark art that it actually is.

It was so long ago that I read about the proposed introduction of the Sheldon Scale that I had forgotten the name of the guy who first proposed it.

My only guess re grading numbers is that you could differentiate between say, a VF 20 and VF 21, and thus try to justify the higher price for the higher grade. You would have to be very observant to pick a difference THAT fine! May be much more justified with the different grades being MS64 and MS65.