Coin collecting is the act of collecting and trading coins or any form of legally minted currency from any country. Coin collectors frequently focus on coins which were circulated for a brief period, commemorative coins of historical dates or places or landmarks, and coins minted with errors. Modern Coin collecting is believed to have started in the 14th century with the Italian poet and scholar poet, Petrach. It started as hoarding and later developed into an art that we know of with experts and people making it their lifelong career. The most famous coin collection has to be the Berlin Coin Cabinet part of a larger museum complex in the Museuminsel (Island of Museums) in Berlin. Like most coin cabinets the Berlin Coin Cabinet's roots can be traced to a monarch Joachim II Brandenburg of (1535-1571). Other great coin collectors were Pope Boniface VIII, Emperor Maximillian of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV of France, and Henry IV of France. Coin Collection Values are always determined by its condition just like any other type of collection.
Since coin collection values are so deeply rooted on the condition of a coin, a scale was developed and primarily used by the American Numistmatic Association. This scale primarily focuses on the physical details of the coin. It uses 1-70 scale that determines descriptions and grades. Here is the Sheldon Scale:
* Mint State (MS) 60 - 70: Uncirculated
* About/Almost Uncirculated (AU) 50, 53, 55, 58
* Extremely Fine (XF or EF) 40, 45
* Very Fine (VF) 20, 25, 30, 35
* Fine (F) 12, 15
* Very Good (VG) 8, 10
* Good (G) 4, 6
* About Good (AG) 3
* Fair (FA, FR) 2
* Poor (PR, PO) 1
The most known and respected coin grading service is Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and the Professional Coin Grading Services. For a fee this coin grading service will encapsulate and grade a coin but their service doesn't come without certain controversy. Although there is a standard scale one coin can be graded and appraised at a certain value differently depending on the coin grading service to be used by a coin collector or coin dealer. A coin collection value can differ over slight variations and slight matters. A small bump or dent in a coin can matter when time comes for it to be graded. The good thing about professional grading services is its ability to get rid of the counterfeit coins that are being passed of as the real thing especially with websites like Ebay where bidding from anything and everything is possible. These grading services apart from being useful from determining the real thing from fake ones also help a collector determine which among the collection of coins is the most valuable. These services are needed since coin collecting has become another form of investment apart from the traditional forms of investment. Collectors, whether inheritors, investors, or hoarders can determine which ones to hold on to the most among the coins their collection.1976 dollar coin
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