The grade of a coin is usually a key component of its value and in most cases, a higher grade often yields a higher value.

Coin collectors often seek higher value coins to satisfy their whims.

It is therefore very necessary for anyone collecting coins to have a reasonable knowledge on how coin grading is actually done.

In the early days of coin collecting, way before the emergence of an international market, coins were described only as good, fine or not circulated.

However, this mode of grading changed drastically by mid twentieth century.

This period saw the introduction of the Sheldon System as a method of grading and was first adopted by the American Numismatic Association in cohorts with other North American Professionals.

The Sheldon system of grading uses the 1 to 70 numbering scale where 70 represents a perfect specimen of a coin and 1 represents a coin that can hardly be identified because of very poor quality.

This system is similar to the Point Numeric System since they both assign numbers to the coins once graded.

The only difference is that the Sheldon System is not just numerical but also descriptive in its approach to assigning grades to coins.

Though universally acknowledged, numerically based systems such as the Sheldon System are shunned by coin experts in other parts of the World and more specifically Europe.

Here, the experts prefer to grade coins using purely descriptive or adjectival terms.

However, it should come as a relief to learn that these two approaches actually use the same terminology and are therefore not very different.

The mint state is the highest grade according to the Sheldon System ranging from 60 to 70.

The coins in this grade are not likely to have traces of wear and always seem to have very few contact marks with other coins or even scratches.

The non-circulated grade ranging from 50 to 58 follows next and retains most of its eye appeal but with less traceable wear on its design.

Next follows the extremely fine grade ranging from 40 to 45 and is characterized with noticeable wear but usually appears to have retained its distinctive features.

‘About good’ is considered the lowest grade in this system.

It is not always easy to distinguish the difference in grades and a level of expertise is usually required for grading.

Even experts do not usually assign the same grade to the same coin.

In certain instances, collectors succumb to the temptation of polishing their coin to pass them off as having higher grade.

The unfortunate result of this is that the coins are damaged in the process and end up with a split grade.

In such cases, the two sides of the coin are perceived to posses different grades, which must be appropriately allocated to them hence the split grading.