Coin Condition Census Guide

Coin Condition Census Guide

Coin Condition Census Guide

For many years, large-cent collectors have maintained a listing of exceptional examples of different die varieties. Known as the Condition Census, this listing gives collectors a good idea of what conditions are available for each variety and how their coins stack up against the best-known examples. If you come across a particular variety in Extremely Fine condition, you can check the Condition Census listing to see whether your coin is important. Generally, if you own a coin that's listed in the Condition Census, or if you discover a new example that warrants inclusion, you have a special and valuable coin.

Along those lines, PCGS developed the PCGS Set Registry on its Web site (www.pcgs.com). The Set Registry lists the finest condition coin sets in existence today and the finest-condition sets of all time. Not surprisingly, the Set Registry contains only coins that have been graded by PCGS or evaluated by one of its experts. The information contained in the Set Registry lets you know how your collection stacks up against those around the world. Your collection need not be complete to merit inclusion in the Set Registry, but if you're working on a popular set, such as Mercury-head dimes (see Chapter 11), you'll have to have as complete a set as possible in the finest grades, or your collection will be way at the bottom of the list.

Most of the major grading services publish reports showing all the coins they've graded and the condition of each coin. Use these reports just as you would a Condition Census to see whether your coin is no big deal, special, or even Finest Known.

When using the condition reports published by grading services, keep in mind that:

They do not include coins from other services that may be significantly better.

The very same coin can earn different grades at different services.

Also beware of common coins minted since 1964 they will show only a few listings and may appear to be rare simply because they're so inexpensive that very few are sent in to be graded. Finally, some numismatists estimate that as many as 20 percent of the coins in the population reports are the same coins that have been resubmitted several times.

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