There are other grades lower than VF. The guide below gives a quick summary using Florins. http://www.anda.com.au/documents/resource/00114_Pt 2 - Grading Commonwealth coins.pdf
a coin very similar sold at auction for $3500 + fees, most in that grade $200-$400. its a splendid coin with great eye appeal, however i would hazard a guess, its been chemically and mechanically "hand" cleaned at some stage. Judging by the cleanness of the normally nitty gritty bits like legends and denticles and parallel surface scratching under magnification. The normally dirty bits look ultra white and cleaner than the surrounds or what you would expect from a lightly circulated coin. who ever cleaned it? was is a legend at cleaning however.
sell that at VF your rippin your self off, also you can give the coin diff grades for reverse obverse, something to consider as i would grade them both diff on this coin.
not that I'm planning to sell the coin.. just curious as to how the grading work, and try to get the overall consensus.. as many people came up with different grading :| separate observe / reverse grading? the saga continues
This is exactly one of the reasons to buy UNC or a graded coin either PCGS or NGC. At least a graded coin is stated clearly what grade it is. This is what you are going to buy and sell it for. The future buyer can then choose if they agree or not. At least there will be a minimum standard set. Buying an UNC coin can be hard to identify, so either a trusted seller or more experience and knowledge. Knowledge you can gain for free across many websites. Experience comes with time and comparing many, many coins. Even start by collecting a batch of modern coins and looking for wear indicators etc... 20c pieces are a good size and plenty out there for reference.
grading is a very subjective art form everyone See's things a little different funny that the guy who was going to buy it said a/EF ? was he going to pay that grades price? if so that's your lowest grade , take it to a few more dealers if you need a better understanding a good dealer will tell you why they graded it the way they did so best to take note and learn what they are saying. its easy for us here to give out grades as we have nothing invested that's why i would not give a grade without seeing it in hand photos are hard to grade from. have fun anyway its meant to be fun learning
Thanks for all in the inputs guys Here comes case #2 help me pick the better '37 crown from below. Coin1: Better details & lines, cross is worn, scratches are more visible, has been cleaned apparently (so i was told) Graded VF from a dealer [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00552.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00553.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00554.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00555.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00556.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00557.jpg][/imgz] Coin2: Colour / toning is more even (i would assume it hasn't been cleaned), wear on the cross is worse, more dents on the letters, but less visible scratches Graded EF from the same dealer [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00558.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00560.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00561.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00563.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00564.jpg][/imgz][imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/1870_dsc00565.jpg][/imgz] Do you agree with the grading? Thanks in advance!
