by:
Dannreuther, John W.
Travers, Scott A. (Editor)
Professional Coin Grading Service
Bowers, Q. David (Introduction)
Hall, David

Publisher:
House of Collectibles
Published:October 1997
ISBN:0676600409
Format:Paperback
Pages:336

Description: Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: WHAT ARE COINS? WHAT IS GRADING?
HOW DO YOU DO IT?
The Evolution of Coins
Minting and Grading
The Attributes of Grading
Chapter 2: HANDLING AND STORAGE
The Odds Against Perfection
Preserving Coins
Chapter 3: GRADING TECHNIQUES AND TECHNICAL GRADING
Learning from Observation
Light Sources
Magnification
Technical Versus Market Grading
Chapter 4: PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE GRADING STANDARDS
Determining the Grade
Mint State Standards
Circulated Standards
Proof Standards
Chapter 5: ELEMENTS OF A COIN'S GRADE
Learning the Language
Wear
Contact Marks
Strike
Luster
Eye Appeal
Planchet and Striking Errors
Color and Toning
Professional Coin Grading Service
Designations
Color Designations
Strike Designations
Surface Designations
The Grading Process
Chapter 6: GRADING U.S. COPPER COINS
Half Cents
Large Cents
Small Cents
Two-Cent Pieces
Chapter 7: GRADING U.S. NICKEL COINS
Three-Cent Nickels
Nickels
Chapter 8: GRADING U.S. SILVER COINS
Three-Cent Silvers
Half Dimes
Dimes
Twenty Cents
Quarter Dollars
Half Dollars
Silver Dollars
Chapter 9: GRADING U.S. GOLD COINS
Gold Dollars
Quarter Eagles
Three Dollars
Four Dollars
Half Eagles
Eagles
Double Eagles
Chapter 10: GRADING U.S. COMMEMORATIVE COINS
Grading Commemoratives
Chapter 11: DOCTORED COINS
Questionable Toning
Sophisticated Surface Alteration Techniques
Chemical Etching and Artificial Frosting
Learning to Detect Doctored Coins
Chapter 12: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF COUNTERFEIT
DETECTION
Overview
Chapter 13: IDENTIFYING GENUINE
COINS--COMPARISONS WITH COUNTERFEIT SPECIMENS
The Real Deal
Gold
Chapter 14: FREQUENTLY SEEN COUNTERFEIT COINS
Summing Up
Epilogue: What's Next?
Glossary
Index

From the Publisher
What an undertaking this book was -- 48 pages of gorgeous color, spectacular black-and-white images throughout, the grading standards of the Professional Coin Grading Service published in a book for the first time -- this is truly the book no serious coin collector can do without! I worked with the top names in coin grading on this one, and I basically had to just sit back and marvel at their expertise. This was a challenge to produce, but an incredible achievement.
-- Randy Ladenheim-Gil,... read more