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Coin Grades

All About Coin Collecting: Grade Coins with Ease!

Coin collection is not just about having as many coins as possible. More important than the number of coins is the quality of those coins. This quality is measured by the coins’ grade and the grade is measured using a scale from zero to seventy (seventy being the highest point grade). Doctor William Shelby introduced this point scale in his work “Penny Whimsy”.

Here are the classifications of coins according to grade.

1. “Mint State” Coins

This is equivalent to a value of 60 to 70 in the Shelby’s grade scale. This means that the coin has no blemishes whatsoever. Most of the coins in this category are uncirculated, shiny, new coins, with absolutely no signs of wear.

2. “Almost Uncirculated” Coins

The “Almost Uncirculated” coins have a point grade of 50, 55, or 58.

It is very important to note that in these coins, coin collectors must know the locations of the high points in a particular coin. By checking the difference of the light reflected in the high points to the other parts of the coin, an “Almost Uncirculated” coin is separated from the Mint State coins.

3. “Fine Coins”

These can further be classified as” Extremely Fine” (40, 45), “Very Fine” (20, 25, 30, and 35) or “Fine” (12) depending on the sharpness of the remaining details on the coins. The coins are observed to have wear but the designs are still intact.

For “Extremely Fine” coins, the mint luster is still present.

“Very Fine” coins can be compared to coins which have been used for 1-3 years. Minor features of the coins are already gone.

4. “Good Coins”

These coins can be specifically defined as “Very Good” (12), “Good” and “Almost Good” coins.

The coins in this category are worn out. Only weak designs can be observed since the details of the coins in the high points are nearly smooth.

Full rims must be observed for the “Very Good” coins category.

Posted under: Collecting, Gold Coins

Ancient Coin Collecting Hobby

ancient_coins Ancient coin collecting hobby is exciting as well as expensive. Exciting because, it gives you exposure to very rare and unique coins of olden eras and civilizations. Expensive because these ancient coins are inelastic in supply and always trail demand. For this reason, many collectors are reluctant to buy ancient coins.

However, the uniqueness of ancient coins offer the collectors great opportunity to gain monetarily also. Because, there are hard core lovers of ancient coins who are willing to buy at any price.

When you want to make ancient coin collecting a hobby or buy ancient coins, think about following points in your mind. First of all, conduct a research of ancient coins. As a coin collector, it pays you better if you are aware of what coins are considered ancient. And you can get plenty of information about ancient coins from the internet.

There is a wide variety of ancient coins available, may be of different eras, different countries and civilizations. Some of the popular ancient coins are from Chinese civilization, ancient Rome, Greek, Persian, etc. The collector can focus on a specific group or era when collecting coins.

The collector can then make a list of the ancient coins that he would like to buy according to his order of preference. This planning make it easier for him to locate the coins he wants to buy.

Once you collect the coins, you can keep them in an exclusive holder, which will help you organize and preserve the coins better. This is very important because, ancient coins are generally more expensive than other collectible coins .

Moving on the right way will not impede your ancient coin collecting hobby. The hobby will turn out to be highly rewarding if you act according to a well conceived plan. It can give you a lot of excitement and fun going forward. This apart, you will gain knowledge about some of the foregone civilizations and eras, that you would have never confronted otherwise.