The Sheldon Scale is the primary system in use for determining the grade of a coin. The possible grades range from Poor-1 to Mint State-70 (usually expressed as MS-70). Every possible number in between is theoretically available for describing a coin's state of preservation, but in practice only certain points of the scale are used (such as EF-45, but ...
Full Article: The Sheldon Scale for Grading Coins - Susan's Coins Blog
The Sheldon Scale is the primary system in use for determining the grade of a coin. The possible grades range from Poor-1 to Mint State-70 (usually expressed as MS-70). Every possible number in between is theoretically available for describing a coin's state of preservation, but in practice only certain points of the scale are used (such as EF-45, but
... Perhaps numismatics should be on a fiscal year ending Sept. 30 as the U.S. Mint is. One thing about 2011 that occurred to me was it will mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Professional Coin Grading Service. That event certainly revolutionized the hobby.
At the time, it was a better mouse trap. It was not the first third-party grading service. Then the big dog in that field was ...
Full Article: Back where we started? - Buzz with Dave Harper
Welcome to the second installment of "Tips from the Grading Room." In the last issue, we took a look at what constituted a "Full Head" Standing Liberty Quarter. This time, we'll examine another important qualifier – what must qualify for a Full Band Winged Liberty Head or "Mercury" dime, designated "FB" by PCGS.
Full Bands (FB) is the designation following the numerical grade of some regular-strike Mercury dimes that have fully separated horizontal bands on the...
Full Article: Tips from the Grading Room - Professional Coin Grading Service
No one can deny that third-party grading services have been a boon to our hobby; yet their contribution to the gradeflation that has occurred over time has been something less favorable to acknowledge. As a professional grader for over three decades and one who helped developed the strict technical grading standards used long ago, I see the results of gradeflation each day at work.
In 1976, at the first third-party grading service (INSAB), we used grading to describe what a coin looked ...
Full Article: Gradeflation Opens Up Questions - NumisMaster
Among early United States cents one of the rarest and most mysterious is Dr. William H. Sheldon’s variety number 79 having a reeded edge, an example of which has just been certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Only eight pieces are confirmed to exist, and this one has been off the market for some 30 years. Its last public appearance was in a 1977 auction by the now-defunct Numismatic and Antiquarian Service Corporation of America (NASCA). NGC has graded ...
Full Article: NGC Certifies Rare S-79 1795 Reeded Edge Liberty Cap Cent - Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), the most-preferred certification and grading company in numismatics, announced today it has reached an unprecedented industry milestone -- 20 million coins graded. NGC is the first coin grading company to arrive at this historic number and it underscores NGC's position as the industry leader and guardian of numismatic interests around the world.
Mark Salzberg, chairman of NGC, is excited about the 20 million mark but says the ...
Full Article: Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) Grades 20 Millionth Coin - MarketWatch
Metallic composition and weight can now be reported on the certification label.
NGC is introducing a new service line to perform metal composition testing at the submitter’s request. Metallurgic analysis is available for pattern, essay, trial and mint error coins, as well as tokens and medals. The cost of this service is $75 in addition to the NGC grading fee. Coins already certified and encapsulated by NGC can be resubmitted to NGC for metal testing for the flat fee of $75...
Full Article: NGC Launches New Metallurgic Analysis Service - Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
The rare coin market continues to adjust to the presence of new Professional Coin Grading Service Secure Plus coins and PCGS has posted on its Web site an FAQ with nearly 100 questions that its clients have asked about the new service.
So, if you don't fully understand the new PCGS Secure Plus grading tier ...
Full Article: Market reacts to PCGS+ - Coin Values
This time I want to write about “crossovers” and attempts to have the grade of a slabbed coin raised. There are many independent coin grading services; however, four of them are considered by most collectors to be the major services. Since there is evidence that the same coin will automatically assume a different commercial value depending on which major grading service encapsulated it, there is a desire to get a coin slabbed by the grading service with the “best return.” A “crossover” occurs when a coin that is authenticated and graded ...
Full Article: Which Coin Will Cross Over, Upgrade? - NumisMaster
