What is the Sheldon scale?

The Sheldon scale is a 1 to 70 numerical scale used to grade the condition of US coins, originally devised in 1949 for large cents and later adopted across the entire hobby, including by the major third-party grading services.

What does MS-70 actually mean?

MS-70 is the top of the mint state range: a coin with no detectable imperfections, marks, or handling wear even under magnification. It is an extremely high bar, and most mint state coins, even attractive ones, fall well short of it.

Is a coin graded by PCGS or NGC worth more than an ungraded coin?

Often, yes, because a certified grade removes most of the disagreement between a buyer and seller about condition. A coin in a tamper-evident holder with a stated numeric grade is easier to price against a published guide than a raw coin whose condition is a matter of opinion.

Can a coin's grade change over time?

A coin's physical condition does not improve with age, though a coin that is mishandled, cleaned, or stored improperly can develop new marks or toning that lower its grade if it is submitted for grading again. This is one more reason to avoid cleaning or polishing an old coin.

Coin Grading Basics and the Sheldon Scale

Grade is one of the biggest factors in what an old coin is actually worth, alongside date, mint mark, and metal content, yet it is also the factor most owners have never been taught to read. This guide walks through the Sheldon numerical scale that the entire hobby uses, the common grade names you will see attached to it, and why a certified grade from a service like PCGS or NGC tends to carry more weight than a seller's own description.

The Sheldon Scale, 1 Through 70

Dr. William Sheldon devised the numerical scale in 1949 as a way to grade large cents on a consistent basis, and the hobby gradually adopted it for every US coin series. Today a coin's condition is expressed as a number from 1, barely identifiable, to 70, perfect, with a word-based grade name attached to specific points along that range. The American Numismatic Association publishes the standards most dealers and grading services still reference for how each grade should look.

Circulated Grades

A circulated coin shows visible wear from time spent in commerce. The main circulated grades, from most worn to least, are:

About Good, AG-3. Heavily worn, with the design mostly flattened and some details barely readable.
Good, G-4. Major design elements are outlined but flat, and the date and mint mark should still be legible.
Very Good, VG-8. Some minor detail returns, though most fine detail remains worn away.
Fine, F-12. Moderate, even wear with most major design elements clear, though the highest points are flat.
Very Fine, VF-20. Light wear across the highest points only, with most fine detail still visible.
Extremely Fine, XF-40. Slight wear limited to the very highest points, with sharp remaining detail.
About Uncirculated, AU-50. Trace wear on the highest points only, with most of the original mint luster still present.

Mint State Grades: MS-60 Through MS-70

A mint state coin has no wear at all from circulation, though it can still carry handling marks, weak striking, or poor eye appeal that separate a low mint state grade from a high one. The mint state range runs from MS-60, an uncirculated coin with numerous marks or a dull strike, up through MS-63 (choice) and MS-65 (gem), where marks become progressively fewer and the strike and luster progressively better. At the very top, MS-70 describes a coin with no imperfections of any kind, no marks, no weak striking, no handling wear, visible even under magnification. Very few coins, mostly modern issues examined immediately after striking, ever achieve MS-70.

What Third-Party Grading Services Do

Services such as PCGS and NGC authenticate a submitted coin, assign it a numeric grade using published standards, and seal it in a tamper-evident holder along with that grade. Because the process is performed by trained, independent graders rather than the buyer or seller, a certified grade is far harder to dispute than an informal description, and price guides are built directly around those exact grade numbers. This is why two coins that look similar to the naked eye can sell for very different amounts once each has been professionally graded.

How Cleaning and Damage Affect Grade

Cleaning, polishing, and other alterations strip a coin's original surface and often leave fine hairline scratches that a grader can spot immediately. Rather than assigning a numeric grade to a coin with this kind of damage, a grading service will typically return it with a "details" designation, such as cleaned or environmental damage, which signals a problem coin and generally caps its value well below an equivalent problem-free example. The safest approach with any old coin is to leave it exactly as found and let a professional assess it in that original state.

Grade is only one input into what a coin is worth. Our coin values guide covers the other factors, from mint mark to metal content, and our key-date coins guide shows how grade and scarcity combine to drive a real premium on specific dates.