Do you grade your own coins? What aspect of grading would you like to learn more about?

I haven’t myself tried to grade any of my coins and in fact I only own about five professional grade coins. I have sent some coins away for grading and when returned were much lower graded then I expected. I collect the coins I like and can afford and don’t expect to sell any so at the very expensive cost of grading companies I’m happy with my un- graded collection.

Roy E. Robertson

Annapolis, Md. I would like to become more proficient in identifying circulated coins vs. weak strikes.

Ken Winchell Address withheld I would like to learn more about grading Lincolns.

Bruce Levine Olean, N.Y.

Yes, I try to grade my own coins. As I am not the best at it and since I “cherrypick” a lot of raw coins from eBay, I would like to get better at it, especially detecting things like cleaned and whizzed coins. So far I’m doing pretty good as I’ve only been “taken” a couple of times for cleaned ones. I mainly focus on Morgan dollars and classic commemoratives. I do a lot of comparing of candidate coins to certified coins as a baseline and that method seems to be serving me well right now.

L.E. Brewer Address withheld I received from my grandfather’s collection the 1977 edition of ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins. Using that text, I feel that I can tell the difference between a Good, Fine, VF, EF, AU and MS-60. Except for rare coins (I don’t have any,) does anyone really need to distinguish between EF-40 and EF-42?

The ANA book should be in every coin collector’s library. A photo coin grading app should be on every collector’s phone, too.

Richard Bumpus

Marion, Mass.

I would like to see more on unnatural toning, deceptive surface conditions.

John Bess San Antonio, Texas

I grade my own coins to try to maintain as accurate an inventory as possible. I utilize Q. David Bowers Grading Coins by Photographs and also consult ANA’s

Grading Standards if in doubt.

Dale W. Maple Address withheld

I’ve used the “Red Book” to know what details to look for and what major grades might apply. To narrow down a fair value, I’ve used the online PCGS guide to find recent auction prices on slabbed coins that compare to what I want. Now I add the values found in Numismatic News and try to find a happy medium. If it’s a coin I find more attractive than others, IMO, I might go a little higher.

Chris Rozewski Address withheld

Grading MS coins from 60-65.

David LaKari

Oil City, Pa.

For me, bag marks on Morgan and Peace dollars make it harder to grade. If there is a mark on the cheek or field, I see some graded MS-62 and others MS-64. Some even lesser grades. Any tips?

Jim Lewandowski Waynesboro, Va.

Yes, I grade my own coins. Along with my research on how to grade coins, I use reference books as a guide and pictures of similar coins to help guide the process.

Ken Address withheld

I grade my own coins and I use the old

Photograde guide. I also use PCGS for the coins that I determine more valuable. One thing I never seem to get is how to tell a coin has been cleaned or whizzed. I have seen too many different explanations with no real photos to look and see the damage to the coins. It is easy to find coins that have had chemical pitting and silver coins that have had the bright finish removed, but there are a lot more damages to coins out there.

Denny Watson St. Charles, Mo.

When grading Morgans, which element of the grading assessment of the obverse is most important, the fields or devices? I find any, even small marks in Liberty’s face, bothersome as small chatter on field less distracting. Marks in cheek and forehead especially give me pause.

Michael Natoli Address withheld

I learned to grade in the ’70s by looking at thousands of coins. I am fairly proficient now, especially in the series I collect and even the ones I don’t collect. I find Mint State grade is very subjective, especially trying to figure out 1 point differences between grades. While I don’t only use the grade on the slab, it certainly helps me figure out what I want to pay. I wish there were more opportunities to take grading classes like at the ANA.

Roy Herbst Address withheld

I mostly try and grade my own coins but have noticed that when I feel that the coin is in Mint State, I get the slabbed coin in a cleaned Unc. condition or tooled. How can one distinguish when it’s not obvious that a coin has been cleaned? I sometimes see a coins that looks cleaned by a grading company with a grade and not marked cleaned.

Javier de Anda

Laredo, Texas

I have followed some grading standards I have read with photo samples for my own circulated coins, but I would love to learn to grade professionally.

Patricia Correia Abilene, Texas

I typically buy slabbed coins by not only the grade but appearance. I’m currently looking at currency graded -64 to -67 and learning that the grade depends on what side of the bed the grader woke up on.

Joe G. Carlsbad, Calif.

I need to be much more informed on counterfeits and cleaned coins. There is information out there, but both categories I feel I need much more. Especially cleaning.

Gary Winters Address withheld

I do compare coins I am considering buying using Photograde pics. You can learn a lot about the range of grades assigned a particular graded coin and at least try to avoid making costly mistakes.

Jan Fox Dansville, N.Y.

I have been grading my own coins since the mid-’50s. I am always looking to improve and try to keep up with the latest standards. I am better with U.S. copper coins as that’s where I started.

Donald Hudson

Tucson, Ariz.

I am generally able to grade my coins (gold excluded). That said, I submitted five of my early, raw coin purchases from the late ’90s, to PCGS and NGC. All but one came back as Unc Details,

Cleaned. All were bought as MS-62’s. Cleaned coins is an area I need to learn more about. However, I now only buy PCGS- and NGC-certified, encapsulated coins from known, reputable dealers. Problem solved.

Lorne Lavertu Herndon, Va.

Yes, I do grade my own coins using available information from coin books and the downloaded version of PCGS Coin Facts. I tend to go high. Wish there was a “Photo Snap” app out there!

One question, the obverse may be a -70 and the reverse a -73 ... what side of the coin determines the overall grade of the coin?

Bruce Maine Address withheld

Do I grade my coins? I try, but how successfully is uncertain. The resources available are passable at best but certainly not reliable enough to give an accurate grade, especially when the “subjectivity” of grading comes into play. So, in a nutshell, I try to grade as accurately as possible but to what end, who really knows.

Chris Kierski, Maysville, W.Va.

I have a big problem when it comes to cleaned coins. A lot of the time it looks Unc., but the coin grading companies grade them as Cleaned. How can you tell?

Javier Address withheld

I always like to approximately grade my own coins, using the best guides I can. Still sometimes hard to determine if a coin has been cleaned, and how much plus or minus to grade for surface conditions (scratches, toning, luster or lack of, etc.). I notice among different authentication services, they vary quite substantially in same grade of a particular coin, which makes it difficult to see what the actual grade would be if I offered one of my coins for sale.

Rich Pyles Las Vegas, Nev. I’m new to coin collecting. I have several coins that I would like to have graded. I have the ANA book on grading standards. But I would like to feel more confident that, when sending my coins in to a grading service, I’ve even come close as far as a grade.

Bill Rubenstein Viera, Fla.