3. What you should know about coin grading

The essential thing about grading is that it is the most important aspect of numismatics (coin collecting). Numismatics is all about collecting coins of the finest quality possible. Collectors will strive to obtain the best specimens. The only way to know the true quality of your coins is to have them graded by a professional grading company.

The rare coin market has a history of providing some of the highest financial returns in the world. By buying coins that are graded by PCGS and NGC you will reap the benefits of that high growth.



This is a coin chart produced for graded United States rare coins by PCGS. Rare coins are one of the best performing global investments available. It is also important to know that there are no charts on "raw" coins, as they simply do not perform.
The most powerful words in numismatics are ‘finest known’. Collectors and investors will fall over themselves to get hold of a ‘finest known’! If you own a finest known, then you have the best. Owning the finest known gives you the greatest pricing power of any seller and you will able to set the highest price for the market. This is because no other coins are able to compete with the one that you have. You may, however, never know the grades of your coins if they are in ‘raw’ form. The Liberty Head Nickel above was sold for a record US $4,15 million.
It is the finest known of the 5 specimens and has been graded by PCGS.
Above is a picture of the Rockefeller family home. One of the Rockefeller family members was once the owner of one of the 5 specimens of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel. Rare coins have a long legacy of participants from some of the richest families in the world.

The two largest and most respected of these grading companies are PCGS and NGC. You can visit their web sites on www.pcgs.com or www.ngccoin.com. These companies are known as third party grading companies. This means that they are divorced from numismatics in all aspects except for the grading of coins. Before third party grading came about, coin dealers would sell raw coins to customers that they had graded themselves. This brought about a number of illegal activities. Forgeries were sold as the genuine thing and coins were often over-graded. Cleaned coins which were virtually worthless and damaged, were sold to collectors and investors.

This is a 1902 Veldpond in a NGC capsule. NGC is one of the largest and most respected grading companies in the world. They grade over 32 000 coins a month, from over 72 countries around the world. The Veldpond is the most revered of all coins to the Afrikaner and is South Africa’s only truly indigenous ZAR coin. It was designed and manufactured by the Boers, with the gold being extracted from Pilgrim’s Rest. These are arguably the most beautiful of all our coins. This particularly magnificent specimen is owned by one of our country’s leading lawyers.
Professional grading companies place coins into tamper proof acrylic plastic capsules or ‘slabs’. A bar code is assigned to each coin and can be verified by going to their sites and typing in the serial number of the coin. This will enable you to access the coin’s details. From the time that PCGS started grading coins in 1985, most of the abuse that occurred in the rare coin market disappeared. The coin grading companies PCGS and NGC have introduced ‘consumer protection’ into the global rare coin market. They grade coins for over 72 countries in the world and are widely respected.

There are many dangerously misleading fakes in the South African rare coin market. The only way to guarantee that you have genuine coin is to ensure that they are in the capsules of NGC or PCGS.
The coins above are fakes of the valuable Veldpond.
There are 12 other grading services in the United States, but they are not held in the same high regard as PCGS and NGC. Be very careful before buying coins that are sold by other grading services. Some grading services place cleaned coins into their capsules, whilst others place high grades on low grade coins. All markets have pitfalls. The coin industry’s pitfall is failing to buy coins that are not graded by PCGS and NGC.

Salomon Brothers on Wall Street became the most significant investors in US rare coins in the 1990's. This was as a result of the consumer friendly nature of third party coin grading. All the coins that they invested in were graded by the PCGS or NGC.
The largest and most respected organisation of professional dealers in the United States is called PNG (Professional Numismatists Guild). They are the watchdogs for the United States rare coin market and have produced a survey of the main grading companies in the United States. The PCGS and NGC regularly emerge as the top graders in the United States.

The PNG (Professional Numismatists Guild) survey above shows that time and time again, in all aspects, the PNG and NGC are unequivocally the best graders in the United States.
Some people believe that American companies do not grade South African coins correctly. Technically this is correct, because the US grading services apply US grading standards to all foreign coins. Regardless of this fact, a set formula for grading is still applied. This creates ‘consumer protection’ for all collectors and investors buying our coins. If private dealers grade coins themselves, there is often no consistency regarding UNC (uncirculated) and AU (almost uncirculated). A coin that is graded as MS-60 (Mint State 60) by the PCGS, will also be graded as MS-60 by the NGC.

This is a picture of Charlton Heston being awarded the Medal of Freedom by President George Bush. Heston is one of the most high profile collectors and investors in US rare coins. All the coins in the collection are graded by PCGS and NGC.
The coin above is the Saint Gaudens $20 High Relief. It is widely regarded as America’s most beautiful coin. This coin is also the finest known. It is worth around US $100,000. Note that it is in an NGC holder.
This is the PCGS capsule containing a rare Cape of Good Hope Pattern. WARNING! Do not buy any coins that are not graded by PCGS or NGC and sealed in their capsules. Coins that are not encapsulated can be forgeries or cleaned coins that have virtually no value.
The United States has the most advanced rare coin market in the world, with over 90% of all investment grade rare coins bought and sold there. These coins are graded by PCGS or NGC. Very few collectors or investors ever buy investment grade raw coins in the United States. Most people purchasing raw coins are expert numismatists and cannot be fooled easily. They are able to detect cleaned coins and are also aware of any forgeries. Coin collectors and investors buying raw coins without this knowledge are guaranteed to be disappointed.

S A Coin is busy introducing the United States’ market mechanisms into South Africa. This is in order to create a fluid and powerful South African rare coin market. Our aim is to lift the South African market as quickly as possible, to a market capitalization of one billion rand (US $700,000,000). This will be accomplished when most of the South African rare coins are graded by PCGS and NGC. This is the most powerful market force for growth. At this point in time, we are about 30 years behind the American market. In 1996, we were the first South African company to introduce the third party grading system of PCGS and NGC to our coins. Due to the 40 years of Apartheid, South Africa fell behind on the international rare coin market. Local dealers were selling more raw coins than coins graded by third party grading companies. In the United States, all of the largest coin companies only sell coins that are graded by PCGS or NGC. They never sell raw coins.

S A COIN Building located at 13 Polo Crescent,
Woodmead Office Park,
Van Reenen Ave, Woodmead, Sandton.

S A COIN Corporation is playing a leading role in taking the South African rare coin market into the 21st century. By introducing powerful dynamics like third party grading, market forces are put into action and the market is able to expand rapidly.


In 1985, dealers in the United States were quick to see the benefits to both themselves and consumers of rare coins, by third party grading. Once PCGS was established, all of the largest and most respected dealers became dealer members of PCGS. They encouraged their clients to get their coins graded. The existence of third party grading came about due to the exploitation of customers by unscrupulous coin dealers. Third party grading had a massive impact on the United States rare coin market. It made the market far more liquid than it had been in the past and removed most of the abuse and exploitation associated with raw coin sales. It also dramatically expanded the market, as graded coins became consumer friendly. For the first time, major financial institutions entered the US rare coin market as investors. This all came about due to third party grading. This made investing easy, as you did not have to be a coin expert in order to buy graded coins. As many of the major pitfalls of the past had been removed, it became harder to buy a forgery, a cleaned coin or an over-graded coin.

London Paris New York

The graded coins of PCGS and NGC have a global market which makes them
far more valuable than their 'raw' counterparts.
Selling graded coins also protects the companies that sell the coins. In the United States, one of the most litigious countries in the world, it is all too easy to sue for misrepresentation. If you sell raw coins to investors or collectors, they can later claim that you over-graded, or that you sold them a cleaned coin. Selling coins that are graded by a third party grading service is safer for all involved in the market place. It also leads to better value for coin buyers. When dealers grade coins themselves, there is no way to check one coin against another. When coins are graded by PCGS or NGC, a grade is assigned to the coin and you are able to do coin comparisons.


King Mongkut of Siam (now Thailand) is remembered as a modernizer and spiritual leader of his country.
Three motion pictures, including The King and I (1951), recount his relationship with Anna Leonowens,
the British schoolteacher who worked as governess for his many children. She played a major role in
familiarising the king with western culture.
The set above is the rarest set of coins in the United States and it is called the 'King of Siam Set.'
The set is probably worth over US $10 million today. All of the coins in the set have
been graded by NGC. There is only one set of this kind.
The 1804 Gold Dollar from the world famous 'King of Siam Set' graded and encapsulated by NGC. All of the greatest coin collections in the world have been graded by PCGS or NGC.
Here is a picture of two different rare American coins called Morgan Silver dollars. One is cleaned which makes it virtually worthless and the other is not. Can you tell which one is cleaned? If you cannot, then make sure
that all of the coins that you buy are in PCGS or NGC capsules or you could lose a lot of money.
Prior to third party grading services like PCGS and NGC, thousands of coin consumers in the United States were affected every year. Eventually the central coin industry players realised that unethical dealers were taking advantage of newcomers to the coin market. Uneducated collectors and investors in coins were sold cleaned coins, forgeries and coins that were over-graded. The only way to prevent this was to provide ‘consumer protection’ for collectors and investors. The coin grading services of PCGS and NGC place coins in tamper proof capsules. For the first time, ‘consumer protection’ is provided for collectors and investors throughout the world.

Consumers will happily participate in any market where they get a fair deal. They will leave a market where they are taken advantage of and do not get value for money. It is therefore in the best interests of S A Coin and every other coin company in the market place, to ensure that we have more and more coins graded by PCGS and NGC. This will help create a healthy market place. The more South African coin collectors and investors insist on PCGS and NGC graded coins, the more coin consumers will be protected from fraudulent activities. A healthy coin market is an advantage for all parties concerned.

It is also important to note that you cannot compare a ‘raw’ coin with one that has been graded by PCGS or NGC. The ‘raw’ coin could be a forgery, a cleaned coin, or of a lower grade than stated. With a graded specimen, clients can be assured that the coin is not a forgery and has not been ‘cleaned’. Graded coins also sell at far higher multiples than those that are not graded.

Wayne Gretzky the world famous ice hockey player is also a collector and investor in US rare coins.
All of the coins in his collection are also graded by PCGS AND NGC.
This 1787 Doubloon realized US $2,999,000 at an auction in June, 2005. It is one of America's
rarest coins and is housed in an NGC capsule.
If you would like more information regarding the grading of coins, please contact one of our brokers to arrange a free consultation. They will examine your coins and inform you about which coins can get graded by PCGS and NGC. S A COIN is an authorized dealer for both PCGS and NGC. Get your collection graded today and watch its value soar. You can also contact us by e-mailing us

The grades that NGC and PCGS assign to the coins they grade

Coins are valued according to their grades or state of preservation. The better the condition of the coin, the more valuable it is. Third party independent grading companies play a vital and critical role in the coin market. Due to the global acceptance of NGC and PCGS, the moment a raw coin is placed into one of their capsules, its value increases dramatically. When a coin is in its raw form, its grade is only regarded as a personal opinion, which does not necessarily translate into a good price.

There are four different categories of coins that get graded, namely circulated coins, uncirculated coins, specimen coins and proof coins. These categories can be further defined as follows:

Circulated coins

Circulated coins are those coins that have been used as regular money for the payment of goods and services. They also show the most wear. Circulated coins are assigned the following grades:
Good (G)
Very Good (VG)
Fine (F)
Very Fine (VF)
Extremely Fine (EF)
Almost Uncirculated (AU)

Uncirculated coins

Uncirculated coins or 'mint state' coins are coins that collectors have placed aside and have never passed from hand to hand. This term entails that they are the closest to the state of the original coins available from the mint at the time of minting. Collectors and investors most aggressively pursue coins that are in a condition closest to that of when they were first struck off the minting press. These are the most valuable coins to have in any collection, second only to specimen and proof coins. Uncirculated coins are graded with ten different grades from Mint State 60 to Mint State 70. Mint State 60 is the lowest grade and Mint State 70 is the highest grade. The grades are denoted as MS-60, MS-61, MS-62, MS-63, MS-64, MS-65, MS-66, MS-67, MS-68, MS-69 and MS-70.

Specimen coins

Specimen coins are better quality coins than Mint State, but not quite the quality of proof coins. Specimen coins are graded with ten different grades from Specimen 60 to Specimen 70. Specimen 60 is the lowest grade and Specimen 70 is the highest grade. The grades are denoted as SP-60, SP-61, SP-62, SP-63, SP-64, SP-65, SP-66, SP-67, SP-68, SP-69 and SP-70.

Proof Coins

Proof Coins are the highest quality striking of a coin that mints can press. There is a long tradition of these coins being awarded to dignitaries and VIP’s. These coins are struck on carefully prepared and polished dies. They are often struck many more times than regular coins in order to make the impressions sharper. The coins also have a mirror effect, with the background behind the image appearing ‘mirror like’. Our proof gold coins are referred to as ‘liquid gold’ as they are in such great condition. The difference between a proof coin and a regular coin is like day and night. Proof coins are graded with ten different grades from Proof 60 to Proof 70. Proof 60 is the lowest grade and Proof 70 is the highest grade. The grades are denoted as PR-60, PR-61, PR-62, PR-63, PR-64, PR-65, PR-66, PR-67, PR-68, PR-69 and PR-70.