Coin Icg

There are many coin price guides published; weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and annually. They come in the form of magazines, newsprint, “hot sheets”, and books. All of us have referred to one of these from time to time to ascertain what a particular coin might be worth. Yet, few of us stop to think about what we are getting from any one of these Price Guides, beyond the price or value of a coin. After all, don’t price guides, just give you the price? What else is there?

Basic to an understanding of price guides are two things: 1) the Grade of the Coin; and 2) the Foundation of the price guide. Knowing the Grade of the Coin is required before one can begin. Saying so seems to be obvious, but what more does it mean?

Unless the coin is Graded by an appropriate Professional Grading Company, which has designated what Grade and Identity has been assigned to the coin, most of us are making an assumption about the actual Grade. This assumption we make can be very dangerous because of: a) the difficulty in grading a coin; and, b) the different possible outcomes or results that occur. One Grade “point” or level can make the difference in hundreds or thousands of dollars in the Value of a Coin.

Price Guides assume that YOU already Know the Grade of the Coin. This is why we have the First Rule of Coin Collecting: Know the Grade of Your Coin.

Secondly, ALL Price Guides are founded on the same Principle, which is that the Coin, whose price you are looking up, has been Graded using one Grading Standard. That Grading Standard is set by the ANA – American Numismatic Association – and is entitled the Official Grading Standards For US Coins.

Therefore, ALL Price Guides have a “silent assumption” built in to their guide; which is that the Grade that YOU decide upon, is the True or Accurate, and that such Grade is based on the ANA Standards.

The first difficulty that arises is that most people never know if the Grade that they have decided upon is Accurate. Of course, this difficulty never comes into question, if the coin is Professionally Graded by an appropriate company. There are only four (4) reputable Professional Grading companies that strictly follow the Guidelines set by the ANA, and they are: PCGS, NCG, ICG, and ANACS.

The second difficulty arises because of this “silent assumption” or Foundation of all price guides is whether or not the Grade has been decided upon using the Guidelines or Standards established by the ANA. If you don’t have the skills and training of a professional coin grader, the decision is probably questionable.

Even if you do have the skills and training of a professional coin grader, the decision is still probably questionable. Why? Because even professional coin graders have differing opinions. This is why the reputable professional coin grading companies require the opinions of three (3) professional coin graders to arrive at the “Grade” designation to be placed on every coin.

The obvious conclusion is that a Serious Coin Collector is going to invest in rare and modern coins that are graded by one of the Top Four reputable Grading companies. It is the only certain way to eliminate the disagreements and arguments about the Grade of Any coin being Bought or Sold! It is the only certain way one can Value their coin collection. It also eliminates “getting taken” or cheated buying raw coins.

Have fun collecting your Perfect Coins!

Robert L Taylor, JD
Copyright 2006, Robert L Taylor, JD

About the Author:

Robert Taylor is a retired Lawyer, from Denver, CO, and who has had a passion for collecting US coins, since the age of 6. Wanting to share his Passion, he created http://www.ThePerfect-Coin.Com which features US Rare and Modern Coins (from 1960) and http://www.PerfectDollarCoins.Com featuring US

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Understanding Coin Price Guides

42 Collector NGC PCGS ICG Coin Slab Display Rack Case $79.95

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Ancient Roman Coin Constantine I AD 307-337 EF 45 ICG $65.00

2005 STATE QUARTERS ICG SP69 FDOI SATIN FINISH(10-COINS $125.00

1927 CHINA Silver Dollar coin ICG AU58! $89.00

1933 Year 22 CHINA Silver JUNK Dollar coin ICG MS61! $5.50

1914 CHINA Silver Dollar coin ICG MS63! Chinese $1.25

1650 Netherlands Gelderland 1 Ducat Gold coin ICG MS60! $51.00

1904 German EAST AFRICA 1/2 Heller coin ICG MS64! $34.95

1867 Germany Prussia Thaler silver coin ICG AU55! $69.00

1959 Greece 10 Drachmai coin ICG MS68! No Reserve! $49.00

42 Collector NGC PCGS ICG Coin Slab Display Rack Case $79.95

24 Collector NGC PCGS ICG Coin Slab Display Case Rack $52.95

1921 Russia 1 Rouble silver coin ICG AU53 No Reserve $64.95

1851 Russia Polushka 1/4 kopek copper coin ICG MS61 $99.00

1926 Russia 5 kopek coin ICG AU55! No Reserve! $49.00

1940 Russia 5 kopek coin ICG AU58! No Reserve! $24.95

1937 Russia 3 kopek coin ICG MS62! No Reserve! $24.95

1898 South Africa 1 Pond Gold coin ICG MS63! Scarce! $995.00

1889 Morgan Silver Dollar $1 Key Date Coin ICG MS61 $11.00

1901 Russia 5 rouble Gold coin ICG MS64 $245.00

1878 S MORGAN DMPL COIN 1ST GEN HOLDER ICG MS64 PL $189.99

1897 Russia 5 rouble Russian Gold coin ICG MS60 $445.00

1897 Russia 15 rouble Russian Gold coin ICG AU55 $845.00

**10 COIN COLLECTORS SET** 2006 ICG GRADED SP69!!! $25.00

1888 Germany 20 Mark Gold coin ICG MS64 One Year Type! $395.00

1953-S ICG MS67 ROOSEVELT DIME-HIGH GRADE WHITE COIN $0.99

2007 PLATINUM AMERICAN EAGLE ICG-MS70 $10 Coin PROOF $345.00

1882-CC Silver Morgan Dollar ICG MS64 – Nice Coin $249.00

2005 American Eagle $5 Gold Coin ICG MS70-E30 $11.50

1917 Poland 10 Fenigow coin ICG MS60! No Reserve! $29.95

1936 Estonia 50 Senti coin ICG AU58! No Reserve! $34.95

1923 DANZIG 10 Pfennige coin ICG AU50! $34.95

1862 Germany Prussia Thaler silver coin ICG MS60! $99.00

1934 Poland 5 Zlotych coin ICG MS60! Orzel Strzelecki! $59.00

1949 Poland 1 Zloty coin ICG MS67 $49.00

1859 Russia 1 kopek copper coin ICG AU58 Slabbed! $34.95

Main purpose of this article is to give you an insight on coin grading and guide you further into understanding everything related to this subject.

For Coin collectors, there is always the need to have more coins, to have good coins in the collection. It is always easy to buy new coins for your collection but you need to make sure that the coins you buy are valuable. If you ever need to sell them this will make sure you can do it without many problems. Following the coin grading system is probably the best way to find out the economic value of your coins.

Coin Grading is essentially the process of determining the grade or condition of a coin, the fundamental factor in its value. Coins from diverse countries have different coin grading systems but for the most part they are similar. Although Coin grading has evolved over the years to a system of finer and finer grade distinctions, the coins will be given dissimilar values depending on what the coin dealer or coin collector’s Knowledge of coin grain is like.

It normally takes many years before coin collectors or dealers gain enough experience about coin grading. Because of this coin grading will always be unsure about the value of coins. As of 2006 there are four major grading services:

- PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service)

- NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation

- ANACS

- ICG (Sometimes criticized for its grading of modern coins)

I highly encourage you to look for expert advice before making any significant rare coin purchase.

Although if you want to learn more about the basic of coin grading there are very excellent coin grading books available that deal with the subject. Reading books like that should help you understand the different coin grading systems used in the industry. Using the books as a reference guide you should try to give a coin grading to the coins you have in your collection. This process should help you understand the diverse values that have been given for the coins.

As i wrote earlier, coin grading is uncertain and you will find that no tow coin dealers agree on all of the points. Thus it is good to remember what the various letters and symbols in coin grading mean. For example “Uncirculated coins†will often be given the rating of Mint State. This means this is a very good find for coin dealers and collectors. Even those coins will be categorized from the best to the worst.

Here are a few of the coin grading values:

- (Uncirculated or mint state) the coin grade is near perfect. The range of this grade is MS60 to MS70. MS70 is perfect.

- (Almost Uncirculated) the coin Grade is almost perfect, there is almost no sign of wear and tear

- (Extremely Fine), only a light dusting of wear on the highest points

- (Very Fine) the coin grade shows little wear with the major features of the coin very sharp in detail.

- (Fine) There is a moderate to considerable even wear on the coin.

- (very Good) Well worn, and shows slight detail on the main features of the coin.

- (Good) Very worn features, mostly flat in appearance.

- (About Good) Very heavily worn with lettering, details, and dates worn smooth. The worst possible condition of a coin.

Understanding what these various coin grading values are will help you with your coin collection. Very Soon you will know the various prices that are given to different coins.

I hope the information above was useful.

About the Author:

The coin-collecting-tips.com Website is the best place to learn more about various aspects of coin collecting . Get More info about Coin Grading . Read our guide for Beginners: “How to become a coin collecting expertâ€

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Coin Grading – a Technique you Must Master