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Coin Grades in an Uncirculated Roll

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

The Question:

In a bank roll, Federal Reserve roll or bag of BU Lincoln cents approximately what number of coins, on average for every 50 in a roll would end up being MS-65 to MS-70?
Do you know if there is a chart for most common types of coinage?

The answer to this question has a lot of variables.

Current dated Lincoln cents do not come in bags anymore. They are rolled by private companies before being delivered to banks and credit unions.

A BU roll of Lincoln cents would have coins that would be considered MS-60 at a minimum. That is simply because the coins are Mint State and MS-60 is the lowest grade that an Uncirculated coin would be graded.

MS-70 is the grade that is assigned to a perfect coin. Perfect in this scale means just that ….PERFECT. They look at a coin under 3X to 7X magnification and if there is the slightest imperfection, or the coin is not centered perfectly, or doesn’t meet many other criteria on a list of details….it will not be graded MS-70. As a result, MS-70 coins on general circulation coins are difficult to find and are truly rare.

The nature of the minting process causes coins minted for circulation to be dumped on top of each other in very large bins causing small marks and dings that we can’t always see with the naked eye. Under magnification, they can be seen.

As a result, the grade of MS-70 is very rare. Most MS-70 graded coins that you will see on Ebay, for example unless graded by PCGS or NGC will not, in fact be MS-70 coins.

Here is where it gets a little more complicated.

Coins in Uncirculated rolls that are recently dated, let’s say 2005 thru 2009, would therefore range between MS-60 and MS-69 as finding an MS-70 coin in a roll of coins intended for circulation is near impossible. The further up the scale you go, the more rare the coin would be.

As an aside, I’ve noticed over the years that coins produced in the Denver Mint are of a higher quality than those produced in the Philadelphia Mint. I can’t tell you why that is.

Realizing that grading is subjective, which means …it is an opinion, it is necessary to understand that the more coins you look at, the more accurate your grading skills become.

Being familiar with the grading standards and having looked through millions of cents, this is still only an opinion but I feel a fairly correct one.

The average coin in an average roll of current dated Philadelphia Mint cents would probably average in the MS-62 to MS-64 range.

The average coin in a roll of current dated Denver Mint cents would probably go just a notch higher and be in the MS-63 to MS-65 range.

There will be a very small number of cents from either Mint that would grade MS-66, a few less at MS-67, and almost none at the MS-68 or MS-69 levels.

Other denominations are different. On coins made with nickel, for example…The dies wear very quickly so I don’t see coins much higher than MS-61 or MS- 62 in rolls of nickels, dimes, quarters or halves.

The new Presidential dollars probably average in at MS-62 to MS-63 as they really get banged around during the minting process and then during the rolling and distribution processes.

There is no study that I am aware of that specifically breaks down the percentages of what you might find in a roll based on grade.

One of the best books , with pictures and descriptions of the grades is “The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins” published by Whitman Publishing, LLC.

Posted in Coin Grading, Collecting | Comments Off

Grading Your Coins !

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Grading coins is a subjective thing. What does that mean?

Well, grading is our way of labeling the condition of a coin so that it can be described to other collectors. Here is what makes our current coin grading system a little difficult for most people. Actually, let me backtrack a little first. In the early days of collecting, there were descriptions used like FAIR, GOOD, VERY GOOD, FINE, VERY FINE, EXTREMELY FINE, ABOUT UNCIRCULATED and UNCIRCULATED. That wasn’t too bad as there were guidelines for each coin series that made assigning a grade to a coin fairly cut and dry. You could use the horn on a BUFFALO nickel for example to decide how worn one of those coins was. The more horn visible, the better the coin as there was less wear to the high point of the design, which was the horn on the Buffalo. People began to notice that the methods of grading coins didn’t always work. If a coin was not well struck or if the dies used to strike a coin was worn, all the detail might not be as strong as it should be on that coin. So an UNCIRCULATED Buffalo or INDIAN HEAD five-cent coin could have only enough of the horn showing to merit a VERY FINE grade. There was something not right about that system. While it worked much of the time, it had some serious flaws.

What was developed over time , and here is where grading gets tough, is a scale with 70 (seventy) different points on it that can be used to assign a grade to a coin. Developed in 1949 by Dr. William Sheldon, it is called the Sheldon Grading Scale. For example, there are now 11 (eleven) different and individual grades for what used to be UNCIRCULATED coins. They range from a low end UNCIRCULATED called MS-60 to a PERFECT UNCIRCULATED coin called MS-70. MS stands for MINT STATE.

Grades range from AG (About Good), G (Good), VG (Very Good), F (Fine), VF (Very Fine), EF (Extremely Fine), AU (About Uncirculated), then UNC or MS (Uncirculated or Mint State).

That means you may see something like G-4 (Good-4) or G-6 (Good-6) for coins that are in different grades of what used to be simply GOOD condition. You might see coins that are UNCIRCULATED graded as MS-60 (Mint State-60), MS-63 (Mint State-63) or MS-69 (Mint State-69). Each difference in grade due to a minutely better standard of condition on a coin.

Coins are generally collected from a low grade of AG-3 up to a high grade of MS-70. MS-70 graded coins are extremely rare as it is almost impossible for a coin made for regular circulation to be 100% perfect in every way. You nust be cautious when looking at or purchasing MS-70 coins as this is where the “subjective” part comes into play. The term “subjective” means open to interpretation or opinion. One persons MS-70 can be another person’s MS-65 and there can be a huge difference in the cost of a coin based upon its grade.

A coin can only be properly graded if the person or persons doing the grading is an expert in the field of grading which makes their opinions more valid than the average collector or coin dealer. Many reputable dealers will seek the opinion of a reputable THIRD PARTY GRADER in order to have their coins conditions appraised.

The average person who is not familiar with coins will usually say that their coin is in “Mint Condition” or is in “Excellent Shape” if they can simply see some details on the coin. In many cases what is thought to be in Excellent Condition by a novice collector is not much more than VG-8 or VERY GOOD to a collector. The grade of a coin is extremely important in allowing collectors to determine its worth. You should try to learn as much about grading coins as you can before you venture into the world of coin collecting. You can ask about grading right here!

Posted in Coin Care, Coin Grading, Collecting | Comments Off

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