The process should be done by a professional coin grader and authenticator for a grade to be considered reliable and acceptable to numismatists. A 70-point Sheldon scale is used by many coin graders as a grading standard with P-1 as the lowest or of poor quality and MS-70 as the highest.

Graded coins are usually sold and paid at a premium or higher than non-graded coins.

Pre-grading your coins

You can also practice grading coins your self.  Basic coin collecting supplies to be used in the process are coin loupes with 5x to 7x magnifying power (expert graders use up to 10x magnification), a halogen lamp, a flashlight, coin gloves, and coin tongs. 

Coin appraisal

Coin appraisal is the method of determining a coin’s worth in the market. Just like coin grading, only certified professionals should perform coin appraisal services because it requires sufficient amount of knowledge, skills, experience, and intuition to come up with the most accurate and realistic coin price.

You may find offers such as online coin pricing in coin collecting websites.  Pricing through the web can be done by sending the appraiser a photo and description of the coin that a collector wants to be valued.

This may often sound convenient at first but even appraisers themselves would prefer that coins are valued personally to assure accuracy and to save more time. 

Coin price guides and the coin collecting market

Any type of coin collector and coin dealer needs coin price guides not only to know the current value of collectable coins, but also to study the trends of the numismatic market. 

Compare coin prices from various online price guides and printed coin catalogs.  Evaluate the changes of coin prices from the previous years to the current year.  These are just few ways to analyze the factors that affect and influence coin values.

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