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Uncirculated Coins

Uncirculated coins are new coins that have never been in circulation. Coins may have been stored for many years in original mint sealed bags, or stored in bank wrapped rolls, or carefully preserved by collectors. As a result, Uncirculated coins exhibit no wear from general circulation. Depending on contact they may have had with other coins and atmospheric conditions during or after coining, blemishes, bag marks and toning may be present. Uncirculated coins may lack luster and still be considered Uncirculated. Because Uncirculated coins represent greater quality and scarcity, they carry higher values. Uncirculated grades range from MS-60 Typical to MS-70 Perfect. Most Uncirculated coins range from MS-60 to MS-63+, as very few coins meet the technical standards for MS-66 or higher. It takes years of experience to become an expert at the grading of Uncirculated coins. NCG veteran graders have developed great expertise in grading Uncirculated U.S. coins.

Certified Coins

Coins that have been certified and encapsulated by NCG first must meet our exacting grading standards once done, then the coins are moved over to one of our senior graders to agree on the grade, before it is sealed. When adding one to your collection, it's important to look at the COIN within the holder to see if it appeals to you NOT the holder!

Coin Views & Matters Ô

Coin grading does not have a published standard which is accepted by all grading services. So if there is no standard then how are we to judge whether or not one service is "reliable or unreliable". Reliability or unreliability is dependent upon consistency. From what I have seen from a good Third Party Grading company like NCG out of Long Island NY they are consistent in grading their coins and apparently have taken a stance that the full spectrum of coins, including MS67 are available in the market place. On the other hand PCGS is consistent in their stance that there are very few, if any, coins in the market place that will go the full spectrum to MS67. How many times have you heard that "this is a better coin than the existing grade indicates"? The converse can also heard that this coin is a lower grade than the existing grade given by that service. By whose standard???

Perhaps we in the coin community should push for a standard that all coin grading services must meet and reach a level of sophistication where services are "certified". Food for thought.

ANA Grades

The ANA has published grading standards, but there is still too much left to the individual grader's opinion, particularly in the Mint States. Is this bag mark "distracting" or not? How many bag marks are too many to rate an MS-62? Can a weak strike be MS-65 or better in a series where well-struck examples are scarce or unknown? How many times has a coingraded MS 62by NGC or PCGS been cracked out and sent back to the same company only to come back a AU58?

I mean common , If a third party grading company has a web site ,Email address and deals with the public , will also take coins in to be graded and doesn’t have web site selling their own coins, maybe we should open our eyes!

Written by Henry Willcon Coin Views & Matters

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