Tips from the Experts

As dealers of rare coins, we are many times approached for advice as to a coin’s grade, or asked our opinion as to how to grade particular coins.  These are somewhat technical questions to answer, and are not always easy to express in tangible ways.  Everyone will agree as to the importance of correctly grading coins, but having the skills necessary to do that takes time to develop and hours of honing those abilities.  Experts agree that grading can never be completely scientific in all aspects, as often there is a certain “feel” to grading.  In grading coins, issues such as the strike of the coin, the presence of toning (which may obscure the surface of the coin), or the design itself all contribute and influence how a coin is perceived.  Sometimes we even find situations whereby coin professionals will not totally agree with the grade of a coin.  However, it is important to note that often times these differences are very slight, which reiterates the subjective nature of grading.      

But many times it is not these slight differences in opinion that are the problem, but rather those cases in which a considerable difference in grade becomes an issue between those parties involved.  As a direct result of such situations, independent third-party grading services have come into existence within the coin industry offering professional consensus grading to resolve many of these disputes.  Companies such as the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), the Numismatic Guarantee Corporation (NGC), and the American Numismatic Association Certification Service (ANACS) are third-party services that we can heartily recommend to anyone.  These companies have outstanding reputations in helping those in need seeking an independent professional third-party opinion as to the grade of a coin. (In fact, HCC Inc is an authorized dealer of all three services and can provide advice to you in this regard if you so desire).

Perhaps the best general advice we can give the novice or beginner collector is to stress how important consistency is in grading.  Lighting is a big issue.  Many times we find the amateur trying to determine the grade of a coin without the assistance of proper lighting.  For most professionals, tensor or halogen lighting is often preferred; however, normal incandescent bulbs can also work fine.  The key here is in keeping whatever light source you use consistent.  It is not unusual to find collectors struggling with “reading” the grade of a coin and confused as to why they lack consistency with their abilities.  Usually changing the light source from one to another, often without realizing it, is the culprit.  We find florescent lighting to be extremely difficult to use, as this type of lighting tends to hide imperfections on the surface of coins, and can easily fool the novice.

Although coins are often evaluated without the use of magnification, there are times in which the unaided eye is not sufficient in determining grade.  Quite frankly the best graders within the industry rarely use a “glass” to grade.  Usually these professionals, if they use magnification at all, will only use a 5-x magnifying glass so to not distort the look of the coin.  We find it humorous when we see people, (even some dealers) using a 20-x magnifying glass to grade a coin.  Such magnification completely distorts the true picture of the coin, and an accurate assessment to the grade is rarely made.  Such powerful magnification is normally only used to identify certain diagnostics or characteristics of a coin, especially when considering authenticity issues.

  When trying to evaluate the grade of a coin, it is best to first determine whether or not the coin has been circulated in any way.  From that initial observation can one then compare the coin to the standard for circulated or uncirculated examples for the type, and decide the “grade”.  For most people, coins that have seen some wear are much easier to grade than those that are uncirculated or what we refer to as “mint” condition.  Many times it is here when concerns and problems over the coin’s luster, how the coin was struck, and how many (bag) marks or scratches it has will contribute to the overall assessment and determine condition.  These standards or “measures of condition” are established industry parameters previously determined by collectors and dealers long ago.  In fact, such grading standards have been reiterated through the grading services such as PCGS.  There are specific resources, both books and videos, by the way, available that will assist in coin grading for anyone looking to improve their abilities.

One final thought, when evaluating coins these industry-wide grading standards previously mentioned are often not easily retrieved in one’s memory.  Only through experience and years of looking at coins can one easily remember how a particular coin “should” look like for a specific grade.  Proficiency in grading only comes through developing in the “mind’s eye” what the standard is and training your mind to instantly access a picture from memory. Having such skill takes dedication and years of looking at coins to accomplish.