How US coins are graded

Grading is a 70-point scale describing how much of a coin's original surface survives. 1 is barely identifiable, 70 is flawless under magnification. Circulated coins get letter grades — G, VG, F, VF, XF, AU — and uncirculated coins get numbers from MS60 to MS70. The grade matters more than the date on most coins.

The circulated grades

G (Good) — worn nearly flat, date readable, design gone.

VG, F, VF — each keeps more of the detail; VF still shows most major features.

XF (Extremely Fine) — light wear only on the highest points.

AU (About Uncirculated) — a trace of rub, nothing more.

UNC — never circulated.

Above UNC: where the money is

Two uncirculated coins can both look flawless to the naked eye and sit three grades apart on marks you would need a loupe to see. That gap is where the price moves.

1975 Penny: two grades apart, and the guide value moves by a factor of 70. See the full 1975 Penny price table →

BN, RB and RD: colour on copper

Copper coins carry a colour designation alongside the grade, and it changes the price as much as the grade itself does. Copper darkens as it oxidises, and graders record how much of the original mint colour survives.

BN (Brown) is a coin that has fully toned — the normal state for a copper coin that has been around for decades. RB (Red-Brown) keeps part of its original colour. RD (Red) still shows the bright orange-red it had when it left the press, and for older dates it is by far the hardest to find. Two coins graded identically can sit far apart in price on colour alone.

You cannot improve the colour, and trying to is the fastest way to destroy the coin's value — a polished or dipped copper coin comes back from the grading service labelled as cleaned, whatever colour it ends up.

Who grades coins

PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG are the main third-party grading services. Each seals a coin in a tamper-evident holder — a slab — with a certificate number and its grade, and publishes a population report: how many examples of that date and grade the service has certified. Populations move as more coins are submitted, so they are a snapshot, not a fixed count. The grade-by-grade prices on this site come from PCGS's own price guide, which is an estimate of market value at that grade, not a record of an actual sale — auction results, where we show them, are the actual transactions.

Is it worth grading?

Grading a single coin typically costs $50 to $100 once fees and shipping are counted, and takes weeks to months depending on service level. That cost only makes sense when the top of the grading scale for that date is worth hundreds of dollars or more and the coin genuinely looks like it could reach it — full mint lustre, no wear, no marks from mishandling. On an average worn coin, or a modern date where every grade is worth about the same, grading costs more than it could ever add.

Details grades and what kills value

A coin that has been cleaned, damaged, or altered does not get a numeric grade at all — it gets a details grade, such as "AU Details — Cleaned," which states the problem instead of a number. A details grade typically cuts the price to a fraction of what the same coin would bring with a straight grade, because the market is paying for originality as much as for condition. Cleaning is the most common cause, and it cannot be undone once done.

FAQ