Mint State: MS-60 to MS-70 without the registry fight
Mint State means no wear. The number is marks, strike, and luster. MS-60 can look awful. MS-70 is a modern-coin…
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Circulated grades: AG, Good, Fine, VF, XF, AU
If a coin spent time in a pocket, the grade is about what is left of the design. AG through…
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The Sheldon scale: what AG-3 through MS-70 actually means
Dr. William Sheldon’s 1–70 scale is the language of US coin grades. Wear, not shine. Why G-4 is not “a…
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The 1907–1933 twenty-dollar gold. Liberty walking with a torch. High relief first, then a coin banks could stack. Pre-33 gold,…
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1996 Silver Eagle: the key date that is still an ounce
The 1996 American Silver Eagle is the key business-strike date (about 3.6 million). It is still one ounce of .999…
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Shield nickels: the first five-cent nickel, 1866–1883
Shield nickels (1866–1883) are copper-nickel, not silver. 1866–early 1867 have rays around the 5; later ones do not. 1877 and…
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Half dimes: tiny silver, not nickels
US half dimes (1794–1873) are small silver five-cent coins. They are not Shield nickels and not V nickels. Later Seated…
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Seated Liberty coins: the silver that came before Barber
Seated Liberty is the silver family from the late 1830s into 1891: half dime, dime, quarter, half, and dollar (plus…
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1916 Standing Liberty quarter: the first-year key (and the fake 6)
The 1916 Standing Liberty quarter is the key: about 52,000, Philadelphia only, Type 1. The date sits high and wears…
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