Coin grading
process of determining the grade of a coin
Coin grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, one of the key factors in determining its collectible value. Several grading systems have been developed. Certification services professionally grade coins for tiered fees. The grading scale ranges from 1-70.
Overview
A "grade" measures a coin's appearance. There are generally five main components which determine a coin's grade: strike, surface preservation, luster, coloration, attractiveness, and occasionally the country/state in which it was minted. Grading is subjective and even experts can disagree about the grade of a given coin.
History
U.S. coin grading has evolved over the years to a system of finer and finer grade distinctions. Originally, there were only two grades, new and used. This changed to the letter grading system beginning with the lowest grade – Basal State (also Poor (PO)), then continuing Fair (Fr), About or Almost Good (AG), Good (G), Very Good (VG), Fine (F), Very Fine (VF), Extremely Fine (EF), Almost or About Uncirculated (AU), Uncirculated (Unc) and up to Brilliant Uncirculated (BU).
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This entry incorporates text from “Coin grading” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.