coin guide

The Coin Grading Scale Explained

The coin grading scale used for U.S. coins is the Sheldon scale, which runs from 1 (Poor) to 70. Grades 1 through 58 measure how much wear a circulated coin has. Grades 60 through 70 rank coins with no wear at all, by strike, marks, luster and eye appeal. Only 30 of the 70 numbers are ever used as grades.

Why the Scale Has 70 Points

The 70-point scale wasn't designed to describe condition. Dr. William Sheldon worked it out in the late 1940s as a pricing formula, and the basis of his theory was that a 70 would be worth 70 times as much as a 1. The market dropped the formula and kept the numbers, which is why coin grades stop at 70 and not at 10 or 100.

Independent grading came later. PCGS built its standards on Sheldon's scale when it introduced encapsulated, third-party grading in 1986. NGC adopted the same scale when it began operations in 1987. Encapsulated means sealed in a plastic holder with the grade printed on the label, which is how graded coins are sold today.

The 30 Grades That Are Actually Used

Not every number from 1 to 70 is a grade. NGC's scale skips some numbers below 60, and its list of circulated grades has only these: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 53, 55 and 58. From 60 through 70, every number is used. That's 19 circulated grades plus 11 uncirculated ones, or 30 in all. There's no such grade as 47 or 59.

The table gives NGC's published standard for each grade name, with a sample of the Mint State and Proof grades at the top.

The steps get finer as the scale climbs: fives in Very Fine, then single points from 60 up.

What the 60 Line Separates

A grade of 60 is the threshold for a coin to be considered uncirculated. Below 60, a grade answers one question: how much of the design has worn away. From 60 up there's no wear to measure, so the grade weighs everything else, starting with strike and marks.

AU 58 and MS 60 sit side by side on the scale, but they aren't neighbors in quality. PCGS defines Mint State as running from a coin "covered with marks" at MS-60 to a flawless example at MS-70. An AU 58, by NGC's standard, has slight wear on only the highest points of the design and keeps full details. The American Numismatic Association (ANA) says a coin at that grade often has the look of a higher one. A bigger number doesn't always mean a better-looking coin.

What MS, PF, PR and SP Mean

The letters in front of the number say how a coin was made, not how good it is. NGC uses MS for Mint State coins, those struck for circulation, and PF for Proof coins, those struck for collectors. SP stands for Specimen. PCGS writes Proof as PR, so the PR on PCGS graded coins and the PF on an NGC holder mean the same thing.

Proof is a method of manufacture, and NGC's grading guide says proof issues incorporate the same grades. The letters on proof coins don't change with condition. A proof that has picked up wear keeps its PF or PR prefix and drops below 60.

How PCGS, NGC and the ANA Define a 70

The three published standards for a 70 don't use the same words. NGC's test, the one behind every 70 on NGC graded coins, is no post-production imperfections at 5x magnification. That ties the grade to a stated magnification and to what happened to the coin after it was struck.

PCGS's standard for a 70 is a coin that's fully struck and lustrous and free of visual marks. It expressly allows defects that were there when the coin was minted, as long as they're minor and don't hurt its eye appeal. The ANA's MS-70 calls for a sharp strike, original luster of the highest quality for the date and mint, and no contact marks visible under magnification.

One point down, NGC's standard for a 69 reads, "A fully struck coin with nearly imperceptible imperfections." That single point is the whole difference between MS69 Silver Eagles and MS70 Silver Eagles: marks you'd have to hunt for, against none at 5x.

How Coins Are Graded and What Graders Look For

On a circulated coin, graders look for wear, and the ANA's standards note that wear often occurs in different spots on different designs. The high points have to be learned one coin type at a time. On an uncirculated coin, the ANA lists four things at every Mint State grade: contact marks, hairlines, luster and eye appeal. NGC's definitions add strike, which runs from weak or average at 60 to fully struck at 69.

Where a mark sits matters, not just how many there are. The ANA's MS-65 standard allows contact marks that are light and scattered, "without major distracting marks in prime focal areas." Spots count too. NGC factors white spots, often called milk spots, into its grades for modern silver coins, and larger, more distracting spots bring lower grades.

At NGC, at least two professional numismatists examine every coin, and its graders can't be involved in the commercial buying and selling of coins. Grading still isn't an exact measurement. The Royal Canadian Mint calls it one of the more contentious aspects of coin collecting, because dealers and collectors often interpret the same coin differently.

The Characters After the Number

Everything printed after the number is a separate judgment. A plus sign puts a coin near the top of its grade. PCGS gives it to coins with exceptional eye appeal that make up the top 30% of their grade, and only from XF-45 through MS/PR-68. NGC uses the same range, XF 45 to MS 68, and excludes U.S. bullion and modern commemorative coins. Neither service awards a 69+ or a 70+.

A star appears only on NGC labels. It marks exceptional eye appeal, and NGC says a starred coin can fall anywhere within its grade, so a star isn't a stronger plus.

Early Releases and First Releases aren't grades at all. NGC gives those labels to selected coins it receives during the first 30 days of release, and they say nothing about condition.

On copper, PCGS defines Red (RD) as more than 95% original red color, Red-Brown (RB) as between 5% and 95%, and Brown (BN) as less than 5%. On proofs, Cameo and Ultra Cameo are NGC's terms for the contrast between frosted devices and mirrored fields. Put together, MS 65+ RD reads as a Mint State coin, grade 65, near the top of that grade, with its original red color.

Details Grades and Problem Labels

Some coins get no number. NGC says coins that have been improperly cleaned, are holed or have scratches can't be assigned a numeric grade from 1 to 70. They get a Details grade instead: an adjective for the amount of wear plus the named problem, such as AU Details, Cleaned. NGC prints both on the certification label.

A Details grade isn't a low grade. PCGS says the grade on a Details coin can't be used to find its value in published price guides, and that the value will generally be less than the guides show. NGC adds that the severity and location of the problem are often just as important as the Details grade itself.

Whizzed means the coin was cleaned with a fast, rotary wire brush to simulate mint luster on a circulated coin. Wheel Marks are a polished spot left by a counting machine. NGC says harsh cleaning can't be corrected by conservation, which is why the ANA's short answer on whether to clean your coins is no.

How to Grade a Coin Yourself and Where to See Pictures of Each Grade

To grade a coin at home, work in the order the standards do. Start with a magnifier of 5x, the magnification in NGC's definition of a 70. Find the highest points of that coin's design, because NGC's standards place the last traces of wear there. Then decide whether there's any wear at all. That one call puts the coin above or below 60.

If you see wear, match what's left of the design to the circulated standards in the table. If you don't, judge the marks, hairlines and luster instead. For pictures, PCGS Photograde lets you compare your coin with photos and pick the closest match, which PCGS describes as an approximate grade.

Graded Coins in Our Catalog

We're an authorized dealer for PCGS and NGC, and we verify every item we sell with modern testing equipment and numismatic expertise. You can check any graded coin yourself before you buy. PCGS verifies the certification number printed on its holders, and NGC offers the same lookup as Verify NGC Certification. The record should describe the same coin and grade as the label.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AU or XF better?

AU is the higher grade. About Uncirculated covers 50, 53, 55 and 58, and Extremely Fine covers 40 and 45. An AU coin shows slight wear with full details, while an XF coin shows minor wear on some or most of the high points. The ANA abbreviates Extremely Fine as EF, so XF and EF mean the same thing.

Is MS70 or PF70 better?

Neither. MS 70 and PF 70 are the same grade on two different kinds of coin, one struck in the circulation format and one struck as a proof. NGC applies one definition of a 70 to both: no post-production imperfections at 5x magnification.

What is the average cost to grade a coin?

The fee depends on the service tier, which is set by the coin's age and value. As of October 2026, NGC charges $20 per coin in its Modern tier, for coins struck from 1965 to the present, plus a $10 handling fee on every submission and shipping. PCGS charges $17 per coin at its Modern Value level and $24 at its Economy level for vintage coins, each for coins valued up to $300. Both services change their fees, so read the current schedules first.