Tag Archives: Coin Values

What’s My Coin Worth?

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There are many ways to figure the worth of a coin. Follow this step-by-step method, answering these questions along the way:

  • Is it certified?
  • Do you know denomination, series, strike?
  • Do you know the mintmark?
  • Do you know the Sheldon Scale?
  • Can you identify your coin on the Sheldon Scale?
  • Can you spot flaws affecting value?
  • Are you ready to estimate value now?
  • Do you know how to establish silver melt?

Is it certified?

If you have a coin certified by PCGS, NGC, ANACS, CAC and ICG, simply go to their verification sites and input the certification number on the label. Here are links:

Example:

If you have a coin holdered by another company, consider the coin inside “raw” or unholdered.

Do you know denomination, series, strike?

You need to identify these features, which every coin has:

  1. Denomination
    Definition: The face value of a coin, or the specific amount of money it is meant to represent.
    Example: Common U.S. circulating denominations include 5 cents (nickel), 10 cents (dime), and 25 cents (quarter).
  2. Series
    Definition: A series is the complete set of a specific coin design, minted over a period of years, usually including all dates and mint marks.
    Example: Lincoln Cent Series (1909–Present): Includes every date/mint combination of the Lincoln penny.
  3. Strike
    Definition: Refers to the method of manufacturing used to create the coin.
    Types of Strike:
    • Circulation Strike (Business Strike): Coins made for everyday commerce, usually produced quickly in high volumes.
    • Proof Strike: Coins made for collectors, typically with higher pressure, multiple hits, and polished dies to create a mirror-like field and frosted design.
    • Special Mint Strike (SMS) / Burnished: Specific, high-quality finishes used for special sets.

Do you know the mintmark?

These are mintmarks for US coins identifying the facility of manufacture:

P – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The primary U.S. Mint. Most coins from Philadelphia historically had no mint mark, but the “P” now appears on most denominations except the penny.
D – Denver, Colorado: Operating since 1906, this mark is found on most modern circulating coins.
S – San Francisco, California: Since 1975, primarily produces high-quality “proof” sets for collectors.
W – West Point, New York: Established as a mint in 1988, it mostly produces bullion and special collector coins.

Historic U.S. Mint Marks: These letters appear on older coins from facilities that are no longer in operation.
C – Charlotte, North Carolina: Produced gold coins only from 1838 to 1861.
D – Dahlonega, Georgia: Also produced gold coins only from 1838 to 1861 (not to be confused with the modern Denver “D”).
O – New Orleans, Louisiana: Struck gold and silver coins intermittently from 1838 to 1909.
CC – Carson City, Nevada: Famous for silver dollars, operating from 1870 to 1893.

Once you know the denomination, series and strike, you can go to PCGS CoinFacts to find the location of the mintmark.

Do you know the Sheldon Scale?

The Sheldon Scale is a 70-point numerical system to determine a coin’s condition and market value, ranging from 1 (Poor) to 70 (Perfect Mint State).

There are two main types of condition: circulated and uncirculated. Numbers 1–59 (Circulated), from poor to almost uncirculated.

Intermediate grades are Poor, About Good, Good, Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extra Fine, About or Almost Uncirculated, Uncirculated.

Here is a nifty chart for numbers and condition.

Can you identify your coin on the Sheldon Scale?

Identifying the condition is subjective, even for veterans; but you can come close if you compare your coin to the denomination, series and strike on PCGS Photograde, which provides photographs that you can use for comparison.

Example:

You have to compare obverse and reverse, but for purposes here, we’ll just do obverse.

Underestimate when you compare your coin to one on Photograde, adjusting for personal bias. In this case, you may be tempted to think your coin is almost uncirculated. But a strict comparison puts it in the Extra Fine category, somewhere between Very Fine 35 and XF45. Let’s go with XF45

Can you identify flaws affecting value?

There are dozens of possible flaws on a coin that lower value or prevent it from being “straight graded” (a numerical score). Here are major ones:

Cleaning: Harsh abrasive cleaning or polishing that damages the surface.

Environmental Damage: Corrosion, excessive toning, or verdigris.

Physical Damage: Major scratches, rim dents, or metal movement.

Altered Surfaces: Applying substances like wax, putty, or lacquer to hide flaws.

Questionable Color: Artificial re-toning, often used to make a coin look more attractive.

Filed Rims: Rims that have been filed to smooth out dents or damage. 

Here is an example of environmental damage:

For other illustrated examples, see “Common Flaws That Hobbyists Often Miss.”

Any one of the above flaws will reduce the value of your coin, depending on severity. In many cases, that is 25-50% of estimated worth.

Are you ready to estimate value now?

You know the denomination, series, strike and mintmark. You know the Sheldon Scale and have estimated the grade using PCGS Photograde. You eliminated possible flaws and think your coin can be straight graded.

Let’s continue with the 1900 Morgan Dollar at XF40:

Go to PCGS CoinFacts for retail and auction values for such a coin.

The retail value here is $85 (due at the time in part to the high price of silver). But only 20 have been slabbed at that grade, meaning it probably wasn’t worth the cost of grading. That is confirmed because there are no recent auction sales listed at that low grade.

Your coin is silver melt.

Do you know how to establish silver melt?

Here is the formula:

Multiply the item’s total weight (in troy ounces) by its purity percentage, then multiply that result by the current spot price of silver.

Again, let’s use that 1900 Morgan Dollar.

Morgan dollars (1878–1904, 1921) contain 90% silver and 10% copper, with a total weight of 26.73 grams, resulting in 0.77344 troy ounces of pure silver per coin. 

The current market value for one troy ounce of silver, which changes frequently, happens to be $109 (during a spike in that precious metal). Thus, the silver melt value of your Morgan is 0.77344 times $109 = $84.30.

Keep in mind that coin dealers usually only buy 10-15% under silver melt. So you’re looking at about $71, depending on your buyer.

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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

“Accented Hair” Variety of JFK Half Dollar

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Only about 197,000 of the 3,950,762 proof mintage bear the extra hair above the ear, known as “accented,” on the Kennedy Half Dollar, significantly increasing its value.

But the diagnostics are not easily recognizable unless you know where to look.

Moreover, value also depends on whether your particular coin has a cameo or deep cameo frosting. Combine deep cameo with accented hair, and you have a valuable coin.

Take a look at the difference in retail value between deep cameo/prooflike strikes of the accented variety, using figures from PCGS CoinFacts:

Before we share the diagnostics, please review the standards for Cameo and Deep Cameo designations. According to PCGS, Prooflike is reserved for coins grading MS60 or better with clear mirror reflectivity. Cameo is reserved for coins that show moderate frosting of devices. Deep cameo has deep and even frosting on devices. Finally, for cameo and deep cameo, both sides of the coins must have those frosting features.

The diagnostics of accented hair are not immediately obvious. The latter has two distinguishing features: more hair over the ear and a missing bottom serif on the “I” of “Liberty.”

Let’s view the extra hair:

You should be able to count four distinct hair strands, with the strand labeled “4” the telltale hair rising clearly above the others.

Here’s a depiction of the missing serif:

There is another hurdle in identifying the varieties, and that has to do with the packaging.

The thin plastic covering often diminishes the frosting on the devices. If you believe you have an accented hair variety, you should remove the coin from the set, holding the coin by the edges, because proof coins are notorious for picking up oil stains from fingers.

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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other venues. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

How to Submit and Choose a Holdering Company

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Grading is expensive. If you don’t know how to grade coins, buying ones from top-tier companies mentioned here will be your best bet. If you want to send you coins to a company, though, you had better know the various companies and which ones to avoid.

Also, some general price an submission rules. Go to the site of the top companies here and read their price and submission guidelines:

If you decide on a company, be sure to note whether it has membership fees. You’ll also have to pay grading, handling and mailing fees. If you want photos of your coin, you’ll pay more. If you are submitting error coins, you’ll pay again. As such, you don’t want to join a company and send in one coin. Figure at least five.

And you will have to fill out forms and use the correct flips for submissions.

Each holdering company has its own rules, but two stand out with their grades so consistent that they were considered sight-unseen buys in the pre-internet era. Those are PCGS and NGC.

TOP TIER

My favorite for U.S. coins is PCGS because of its spectacular TrueView photos and set registries. Here’s one from a coin that I sold recently at GreatCollections, an MS68 1990 American Silver Eagle that looks like a flag, primarily because it was stored in corrugated cardboard.

NGC grades as consistently as PCGS. I recommend it for ancients.

Both PCGS and NGC have shortcomings. For instance, they are inconsistent with toned coins, often calling them artificial. But I always recommend the two if you are considering grading.

CAC (see photo below) is as consistent or even more so than NGC and PCGS. But it’s relatively new to the grading game as it initially was founded as a fourth-party grading company, in essence, affirming (or not) grades of PCGS and NGC. One drawback concerns those assembling a set of PCGS or NGC to compete in registry sets. CAC is not there yet but will be in time.

SECOND TIER

Second-tier reliable grading companies include ANACS and ICG. ANACS coins in my view are close to PCGS/NGC in grading. ICG, less reliable.

Older ANACS holders sometimes are rigorously graded, as in this one:

Here is an 1878-S MS64 by ICG (I say MS63 at PCGS):

THIRD TIER

A few other holdering companies are hit-and-miss with a tendency to overstate grades and to overlook flaws. Nevertheless, they are somewhat reliable. I place them in a third tier. I would not submit to these. But I do at times see coins accurately graded. Some, like PCI, were taken over by unreliable companies. Look for old green and yellow PCI holders and SEGS and Numistrust holders. See below. I always look at these coins at auction and rely on my grading ability to affirm their grades. Personally, I like SEGS the best but have spotted common flaws on some of its coins, including pin scratches. So again I inspect rigorously.

BOTTOM TIER

These are some holdering companies I skip right over, not wasting time, because the grades are usually inflated and flaws, overlooked: SCG, National Numismatic Certification, newer PCI, PGA.

Here are examples:

JUST MY OPINION

Keep in mind that this post is based on my opinion and experience. You may think differently, experience different results, and even prefer lower tiers to PCGS and NGC.

But here is a warning if you are buying coins housed in these lower holders: Do not look up the year/date/mint mark on the PCGS or NGC values sites. All grading companies use the Sheldon 70 scale, but different grading standards mean different values. Read this post about that.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.