One of the first things a beginning coin collector does is try to determine how much a coin is worth, and almost immediately comes across the words "rating" and "condition". What a "rating" is and what determines the rating a coin receives is a matter of debate among collectors throughout their collecting lives. Is it an art or a science? Can you learn? Can I learn to rate my own coins? Good questions everyone, and easier to ask than to answer. The condition of a coin is one of the components of how collectible and how valuable a coin is. The other main components in determining value are rarity and demand. Age is often just a minor consideration in determining the value of the coin. A rare new coin can be much more valuable than a common old coin. A coin in excellent condition is often worth much more than a coin in poor condition. And a rare coin in poor condition can be worth more than a common coin in good condition. And naturally if no one wants a coin its value is not very high (but the demand or desire for a coin often fluctuates so the same coin that is worth $ 50 today can be worth $ 20 or $ 75 on! next year!)
One of the first things a beginning coin collector does is try to determine how much a coin is worth, and almost immediately comes across the words "rating" and "condition". What a "rating" is and what determines the rating a coin receives is a matter of debate among collectors throughout their collecting lives. Is it an art or a science? Can you learn? Can I learn to rate my own coins?
Good questions everyone, and easier to ask than to answer.
The condition of a coin is one of the components of how collectible and how valuable a coin is. The other main components in determining value are rarity and demand. Age is often just a minor consideration in determining the value of the coin. A rare new coin can be much more valuable than a common old coin. A coin in excellent condition is often worth much more than a coin in poor condition. And a rare coin in poor condition can be worth more than a common coin in good condition. And naturally if no one wants a coin its value is not very high (but the demand or desire for a coin often fluctuates so the same coin that is worth $ 50 today can be worth $ 20 or $ 75 on! next year!)
William H. Sheldon devised the classification system that numismatists commonly use today. Before the Sheldon system, coins were simply described with terms such as "good," "fine," or "extremely fine." But these terms were somewhat vague, and there was no real standardization of what a "fine" coin should look like.
Sheldon devised a numerical scale ranging from 1 to 70. The higher the number, the better the condition of a coin was in the qualifier's opinion. A detailed description of the rating system is beyond the scope of this article, but may be addressed in the future.
So what is generally considered to determine the condition of a coin?
1. Whether a coin has circulated or not. An uncirculated coin is generally assigned a higher grade than a circulated coin. Unless a coin is certified as uncirculated by an accredited third-party rating service, determining whether a coin is considered uncirculated is often the result of examining the attributes described below.
2. The quality of a currency strike. This occurs the moment a coin is minted. A coin can be said to be heavily hit or weakly hit. Among the factors that determine the quality of a coin hit are the pressure with which the coin is struck, the quality of the planchet used to produce the coin, and the quality of the die used to hit the coin. This will determine how sharp the design elements appear on the coin. This can vary greatly from type to type, year to year, and even mint to mint. So comparing the attack quality of a Lincoln Cent with that of the Winged Liberty (Mercury) Dime is not very helpful. But looking for variations within a type (between 1919 Lincoln Cents, for example) is a determining factor in value. A particularly well struck coin can bring a premium. A relatively weakly struck coin is not considered desirable.
3. Current vs. Current Condition Original surface condition (often called "Surface preservation"). What I mean here is the presence of nicks, scratches, gouges, and other types of damage to the surface of a coin. Some coins are more susceptible to damage in certain quantstamp. The absence or presence and extent of this damage is what a qualifier is looking for. And the damage considered acceptable in some currencies is almost ruinous in others. Another phenomenon that I have noticed is that some collectors consider the damage to the obverse (face) side of the coin to be more serious than the damage to the reverse (tail) side of the coin.
4. Luster. The best way I can describe this is the "texture" of the surface of the coin. Some people refer to it as how shiny a coin is. This can be very misleading because a coin may have been cleaned, which may produce a shiny appearance, but the surface of the coin has been damaged in the cleaning process (or even molecules have been completely removed from the original surface of the coin). currency), which results in a lower degree of shine. Also, certain surfaces and certain coins have different surface characteristics. A satin, mirrored, or icy surface may be the norm for specific coins. The more original surface remains, generally speaking, the better the brightness of a coin.
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