The Sheldon Scale is the primary system in use for determining the grade of a coin. The possible grades range from Poor-1 to Mint State-70 (usually expressed as MS-70). Every possible number in between is theoretically available for describing a coin's state of preservation, but in practice only certain points of the scale are used (such as EF-45, but not EF-47.) Learn more about the Sheldon Scale for grading coins.
The Sheldon Scale for Grading Coins
From Susan Headley, About.com Guide August 11, 2010
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Comments
I was looking at your state quarters article on the table of rolls and singles table. what does the letters mean? i.e. deleware 1999-p, 1999-d.
I am having a hardtime trying to figure that one on my own.
email me
thanks,
Hello all I never been here before but I have a 1937 georgivs vi d .g. omn. Rex f .d.ind. imp its penny a big 1 just trying to find it or a web site thank u
@Mike the P and D are the mintmarks… as in where the coin was struck P = Philadelphia, d = Denver.
@tangy what about it? It’s just a common 1937 British Penny. Here’s the wiki on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_penny_(1901-1970)
Aside from P and D there is also:
S for San Francisco
W for West Point
as well as
CC for Carson City
O for New Orleans
Until 1980, coins minted at Philadelphia bore no mint mark, with the exceptions of the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the wartime Jefferson nickel. In 1980, the P mint mark was added to all U.S. coinage except the cent.
It’s amazing that the Sheldon Scale was first created to numerically grade Large Cents only, but is now used in combination with alpha (letter) characters to grade all coin denominations.
Sheldon was on to something that he didn’t realize, but 70 numeric numbers is an impossible amount of digits to use for grading coins. In essence, what would be the difference between an AU58 coin and an AU59? With this example alone coin collectors can see the difficulties and why coin grading is so controversial.
For the years 1965-1967 no mint marks were used on any circulating coins. This was in part because some very small quantities of circulating coins were minted at West Point and San Francisco, and the mint did not want to create numismatic rareties. Other extinct mint marks include C for Charlotte, North Carolina and D for Dahlonega, Georgia (1838 to 1861).
We are now seeing what could be considered flaws in the Sheldon system. Most of the numerals from 13-59 are not used but the grading services are now using the “+” sign for “in between” grades from 60-69. Makes you wonder if things should have been aligned a little differently.
I notice that the 1988 DRV-006 reverse 1989 cent is never mentioned. I recently found one roll searching that was attributed by CONECA. Fewer than 11 have been found to date with 3 known die variations. The Philadelphia has 6 dies and about 1 each month has surfaced since discovered in 2007.
How do I enter the “coin of the week” contest ?
Great blog! I am the worlds biggest coin nerd!
I don’t know…I might have you beat for the biggest coin nerd, Marc!
How does this work when coins are being graded. I found these 2009 Silver Eagles, but they did not make proof Silver Eagles that year.
https://www.silvereagleoffer.com
A fact worth noting is that the Sheldon system was designed to directly help determine a large cent value – a “12″ was supposed to be worth 3x what a “4″ was worth.
Pepe, those coins will not be graded by any of the major third party graders (PCGS, NGC, ANACS. etc.). They are privately overstruck items in which a 2009 bullion coin was used as a blank for what amounts to a piece of art. In the long run, these items will only be worth the value of their silver content, they have no numismatic value at all because they have been modified after leaving the US Mint. They are no different than coins that have been dipped or polished. They may look nice but they are not a good investment. Even a bullion buyer would consider them as culls. They are charging four times what the bullion coin costs and twice what the 2010 proof is going for and they are neither what they appear to be or what they started out as.
I have a Ferdin VII DEI Gratia 1826. this is what is on the front of the coin. The vask reads: Hispan ET IND REX 8R Then it appears to have symbols after that. I have looked in several places and couldn’t find any info on this coin accept history. i wanted to know if it is of any value and if I send pictures would someone be able to tell me. A long time ago I did find something on ebay about it possible vlaue but then again that is ebay : ) I have a bunch of different coins that date 18081928, 1776-1976, 1966 etc. I also have a huge collection of pennies that are pretty old in a collection. is there anyone who might be interested in helping me find the values of these coins.
I am looking for a two headed roman coin such as the one Fendi uses as their ikan. it does not have to be gold—it would be out of my ballpark. A replicxa would do —it’s sort of a joke
sincerely rosalie lannik
i hav a georgivs11 dei- gratia 1758 and a 1758 and a georgivs 111 1787 could any1 let me know what their worth?
could any help me wiv a price on a georgivs11 dei-gratia 1745 coin please in mint condition thanks