In the history of the numismatic market, one of the main topics has always been coin grading. Defined as a label to describe the condition of the coin, a coin’s grade is inseparably intertwined with its value. Coins of the same rarity with lower grades are worth less than coins that qualify for higher grades.
Many years ago, controversial psychologist William Sheldon introduced a numbering system for different coin grades. With a scale from 1 (basal state) to 70 (top-of-the-line Mint State), the numbers were based on U.S. large cents and were supposed to be directly related to the value of a particular coin. That is, a coin worth $1 in its basal state would be worth $8 in Very Good condition or $60 in the lowest Mint-State grade.
Although the scale as such probably wasn’t even applicable to large cents when Sheldon proposed it, the scale numbers have been applied to coin grades since the American Numismatic Association adopted Sheldon’s scale in the 1970s. The ANA also increased the Sheldon numbers well beyond those proposed in 1958’s Penny Whimsy, which was a revision of 1949’s Early American Cents.
As an illustration of this expansion of the numbers, Sheldon used two numbers for the grade of Very Fine, 20 and 30. Today’s version has four numbers: 20, 25, 30 and 35. Whereas Sheldon had only one number for a coin deemed to be About Uncirculated (50), grading services today recognize four numbers (50, 53, 55, 58). An even more extreme illustration lies in the designation of Mint State. For Sheldon, there were
