Anyone have a good website they can point me in the direction of that explains the process of grading Washington quarters? I have found that some coins (Walking Liberty, Mercury) are easier to grade as they have a lot of "high points" to look for to establish the MS grade level. I am having trouble grading my Washingtons. I have a complete collection with a lot of AU-BU quarters in it and would like to send some into a TPG to have them graded. I just don't want to be sending in a MS-61 or MS-62 that's going to cost more in processing fees and such than what it is worth. Could someone either give me some lessons on what to look for on the Washington to establish the difference between higher grades or point me in the direction of a good website. Thanks. btw, I have even tried comparing some of the graded 64's 65's and 66's I have and can't really see the difference. Thanks again!
PCGS's newest photo grade service is a good start. http://www.pcgs.com/Photograde/#/Washington/Grades There really isn't a good online reference for grading quarters in higher grade. Most people can't tell a 65 from a 66 from looking at a picture... you have to have them in your hand in those higher grades.
Thanks. So, what are some good areas of the obverse and reverse to look at? From what I see, possibly the chin and jawline. And, it looks like the "hair tie" is also a good place. Or, am I way off? Thanks again.
I recommend the book "The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins". The jawline, chin and the curl on the back of his head are the pick up points for me.
In my opinion Washington quarters are the hardest coin there is to grade. It's because of the design I guess, not really a lot of detail to focus on like with other coins, so it's hard to tell if the coin has wear or not at times. You really have to study the luster or lack thereof and become very familiar with the series to grade them accurately.
When I am trying to get an idea as to a grade on a Washington Quarter this is what I do. I look for wear on the hair curl covering the ear (almost dead center of the coin), the eye brow and the very bottom curve of the neck. If these areas only show very light wear, or a minor break in the luster, you are probably looking at a coin that may grade MS 60 or higher IMHO. If the wear continues beyond that (cheek area, the temple, side of the face or the full curl in the hair to the back of the head) then you are probably looking at AU and below IMHO.
Use different lighting to search for wear. Sometimes what looks like wear is just a weak strike, compare what you think is wear to the overall coin's appearance. Get out 10x magnification and repeat. After you deem the coin to have no wear, start looking for hits, nics, hairlines, spotting, and die cracks. If its got hits on the portrait its more than likely not going to go higher than a 64 if you submit it. If its got hairlines you have either a cleaned, improperly handled, or maybee mint-induced problematic coin. Hits are the easiest way to grade this series but obviously everything needs to be factored in. Luster can be deceiving because there's not a streamlined "appearance" for the entire series. Some 30's examples should look similar to Peace Dollars, they shouldn't be bright and vibrant. If you have a coin with no nics on the portrait or eagle that just looks nice, you should post a picture of it here before submitting. The best way to learn is to look at and compare examples of the same date and MM side by side. That 63 in the photo grade reference is very deceiving because it lacks any major portrait hits, its a 63 because its fields are nasty. What I don't know is what the photo is trying to imply about its luster...any guesses? Usually 63's have some hits on the portrait, have a full mint luster, and look like 65's when not under magnification.
If he posts the coin here, it might confuse him more than help him. Remember what happened in my recent guess the grade experiment. http://www.cointalk.com/t81696/ FWIW, I agreed with your grade of my coin in that thread.
Those are fun threads but you're probably right. I paid 65 money for a PCGS64 quarter shortly after so at least I put my money where my mouth is lol...
