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
Number One on my list is the TV shopping show dealers and premium "Mints" out there that sell nice looking commemorative coins for premium prices, but that have no value beyond their bullion (if they have any) when you must eventually sell them. Some of these "Mints" sell on the TV and cable-based shopping channels, and the prices they charge when they do sell genuine U.S. Mint coins are nearly always several times higher than the price the coins would cost from a normal coin dealer! ...
Full Article: Top 5 Worst Coin Investments - Susan's Coins Blog
Question: How Can I Avoid Silver Eagle Coin Fraud and Other Fake Silver Coins?
Coin fraud is an unfortunate reality in the coin collecting marketplace, but you can avoid buying fake silver coins, and avoid coin fraud in general, by learning how to spot fake coins. We will use a fake Silver Eagle to demonstrate some easy steps to avoid buying fake coins ...
Full Article: How Can I Avoid Silver Eagle Coin Fraud and Other Fake Silver Coins? - Susan's Coins Blog
The seven best ways to ruin your coins are things that many beginning collectors do without even thinking about them. I've even seen expert coin dealers spitting on their coins! If you care about protecting the investment you're making in your coin collection, take the time to learn how to properly handle, clean, store, and protect your rare coins.
1. Touch Your Coins... Just touching your coins with your bare fingers is enough ...
Full Article: Top 7 Ways to Ruin Your Coins - Susan's Coins Blog
First of all, Godless Dollar email hoaxes aside, not all Presidential Dollars are "Godless Dollars." The term "Godless Dollar" refers only to those dollar coins that are missing the inscriptions on the edge, which include In God We Trust, E Pluribus Unum, the date, and the mint mark. The proper term for these dollars is plain edge dollars because the edge is plain, rather than inscribed like it should be ...
Full Article: How to Tell if a Godless Plain Edge Dollar is Fake - Susan's Coins Blog
Sunken treasure ship coins can be very appealing to us when we think we're getting a bargain, or we believe that they will increase in value quickly. However, the more hype you see surrounding a sunken treasure coin sale, especially when it comes to a famous lost treasure ship, the more likely it is that the coins will actually decrease in value over time. Here's why ...
Full Article: Before You Buy Sunken Treasure Ship Coins, Consider These Insider Secrets - Susan's Coins Blog
Finding error coins in your daily pocket change can be fun and profitable, and it's very easy to do. Follow the steps below carefully the first few times, so you develop coin-checking habits from the very beginning that are proven, productive methods of locating the error coins and die varieties that are circulating right now, just waiting to be found ...
Full Article: How To Find Rare Error Coins in Circulation - Susan's Coins Blog
The State Quarters program is noteworthy for many reasons, but perhaps the most interesting to U.S. coin collectors is the profusion of error coins that have appeared in the State Quarter series. The coin featured here is an example of the struck through grease filled die error type.
Looking at the image, you can see that the first T in TRUST ...
Full Article: In God We Rust - State Quarter Error - Susan's Coins Blog
I recently wrote about the Cheerios Dollars, which are the Sacagawea Dollars that were put into 5,500 lucky boxes of Cheerios cereal back in early 2000. These coins are fascinating because they were struck from a different set of dies than normal Sacagawea Dollars were struck from, and they're currently worth as much as $10k each because very few of them have come onto the market.
I should have foreseen the email avalanche I was about to be buried under! Although almost ...
Full Article: What About Cheerios Pennies? - Susan's Coins Blog
