October 24, 2010
The Art Of Graded Collectible Coins
Seeking out the biggest riches has been a part of the people’s mentality since treasures and riches were being created. Now the hunt is on for rare and collectible coins, all of which have a history of being in circulation or not. Explorers have now expanded their searches to the depths of the oceans digging through ship wrecks to find any kind of treasures that may be hiding. The new treasure for the modern American to search for is coins, and rare coins at that. Rare graded collectible coins in good quality are among the most valuable trinkets in existence.
The quality of coins is measured by the grade of each individual coin. The grading system is a 70 point system that has several sub divisions depending on the coin. The rating scale is as follows: 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 20, 40, 50, 58, 60, 63, 65, 68, 69, and last, but most certainly not least, 70. The quality of the coin is ranked higher with the higher numbers.
Inspectors look for any of the following when grading collectible coins: the etching of the word Liberty, luster, eye appeal, mintmark, date, and any identifiable wear. The coins are first inspected by the naked eye, and then are put through further scrutiny when they are examined with microscopes and magnifying glasses.
A perfect coin must have no microscopic flaws that can be seen with an 8X zoom, the luster must be bright and original, while the image is perfectly centered. This coin would be a collectors dream, earning a grade of MS-70, or mint state perfect. Graded collectible coins are appraised by appearance and perfection.
Categories called buckets make the grading system a little bit more complicated. There are three different buckets that a coin can be put into, the first being almost uncirculated, the next being circulated, and the last being, of course, uncirculated. Some coins that receive higher ratings than others may not appear as perfect, which is because of the bucket that it may be categorized in.
Obviously a circulated coin is going to have more wear and tear than a coin that was uncirculated, but the grading may be higher due to the bucket or category that it is put into. Of course not every coin that is worth a lot of money is always in perfect condition. The rarity of these coins also plays a key role in the worth of the coin. Coins like the Liberty Head Nickel may be worth well over a million dollars, because there are only five left to be in existence.
Taking this into consideration, the PCGS MS-66 Red is an example of a mule. This mule features the normal penny with the face of Abraham Lincoln on the front, but surprisingly on the back side there is the stamp of an everyday dime. Coins that come out like this are likely due to changes going on at the specific mint that it came from. Some mints are asked to produce more of one type of coin, often causing mix ups.
The newest and perhaps one of the smallest treasures to hunt for are graded collectible coins. This tiny trinket from the past may be worth hefty sums of money due to their rarity and grade. Go out and look for these tiny pieces of stamped copper, silver and nickel; you may be surprised at what you find.
Stephen Huston is an expert author, and also collects graded collectible coins. For more information on coins and working from home, visit Stephen’s blog at Stephen Huston.com
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