GRADING

Grading Can Be Complex, But Discerning The Difference Between Strike and Wear is Not.

         Over the years, many members of the Beverly Hills Coin Club have expressed concern over the many different interpretations of so-called grading "standards". As of 2007, there are over a dozen books relating to coin grading, many of which seem to assert that their "standards" are the best. The fact is, that grading is a complex thing that involves many variables such as strike, bagmarks, die wear, planchet quality, eye-appeal, toning, luster, etc. Although grading can be complex, discerning the difference between weakly struck or softly stuck coin and actual wear is very simple, as the below pictures give evidence for: One of the easiest parts of grading is distinguishing between uncirculated or "mint sate" (MS) and circulated. If a coin shows slight wear throughout the coin, then the coin has been circulated. However, this can be a little tricky for those who don't have much experience with a lot of different coins, as the above coin illustrates. The above 1810 Bust Half Dollar is one of the many classic examples of millions of coins that have been unevenly struck and that continue to be unevenly struck to the present date in the 21st Century.
         Note that the obverse is unusually strong and sharp in almost all areas. The reverse is also strong and sharp, but the Eagle's wing on our left exhibits almost no feather detail below the Eagle's beak and to the left of the shield. If the coin had been evenly struck, the feather detail would be as sharp on one side as the other. Coins do not wear this much in only one area, the softly struck area being no more than Almost Good or Good at best. The coin grades Uncirculated overall, as is evidences that there is no wear on the majority of all other areas. In fact, according to one of its former owners, member Craig Waters, the coin was once graded Choice Uncirculated, MS 63 by ANACS, later graded MS 61 by ACCGS and then presently graded by NGC as MS 62.