How to Grade US Gold Mint Coins?

Kevin Sacher, President of the American Mint, has announced the release of a US gold mint coin just ahead of the holiday season. The pure gold coin named ‘Let Freedom Ring 2012 Calendar Coin’ is exclusively available at the American Mint. The coin contains ½ a pound of 24 K gold. It is a single coin which is being offered for a whopping $30,000, which makes it a perfect holiday present!
The design of the coin includes patriotic symbols along its outer edges such as the ‘American Eagle’, the ‘Liberty Bell’ and the ‘Statue of Liberty’. The US gold minted coin is 3” in diameter. One of its sides reflects the months from January to June and on the other it reflects the months from July to December. The coin is also being offered in gold-layered and solid silver, priced accordingly. There are 2,012 and 50 pieces in gold-layered and silver varieties, respectively. Sacher of the American Mint said, “We’re ecstatic to announce these new high quality "Proof" calendar coins to honor American symbols of freedom just in time for the gift-giving season".

The US Mint produces coins in different parts of the country, such as Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia. You can buy new coins from the US Mint or buy older coins from reputed companies that trade in these collectables.

Collectors are known to assign grades to the coins they possess according to the condition of the coin they own. This grading of US mint gold coins is done with the help of a scale which was introduced in 1891. However, the measurements of this scale are subjective to the quality of the manufactured product. For example most of the ‘Lincoln Pennies’ of the mid-1990s have a low grade as they show wear on the grading scale even though they were mostly uncirculated. This happened because they were poorly struck at the time of manufacture.

Tips on Grading US Gold Mint Coins

Grading the US gold mint coins helps you to know the true value of the coins that you are collecting. Few grades of gold coins are:

• Mint State (MS): This grade is given to a coin if it has absolutely no trace of any wear or handling. The scale measures MS-70 if the coin is in perfect condition to MS-60 if it has tiny blemishes or fingerprints. It is quite rare to find coins that measure above MS-65 on the grade scale.
• Almost Uncirculated (AU): The coin is graded AU if there is some trace of wear at the highest points. Different series in a denomination and different denominations have different high points. It is a good idea to learn where the high points of your coins actually are to grade them properly. The scale measures between AU-50 to AU-59.
• Extremely Fine (EF): Coins that have mint luster with minimal wear, that too at the highest points are graded EF. The mandatory condition for coins being graded EF is that all the features of the coin need to be well defined. The grading scales for ‘choice extremely fine’ start at EF-45 and for ‘extremely fine’ at EF-40.
• Very Fine (VF): Grade coins in which all the major features are sharp but which have slight wear along the entire coin surface is graded as VF-30. Coins are graded VF-20 if all the major features are sharp but there is noticeable wear at the coin’s high points.
• Very Good (VG): Coins are graded:
 VG-8, if the coin features are clear but are worn down to becoming nearly flat
 Good (G-4), if the lettering, year and design of the coin are visible but it is considerably worn
 About Good (AG-3), if the coin is heavily worn and its lettering and date has gone completely flat