From the Grading Room: Magical Grades

王大拿2018

An 1817 Capped Bust Half Dollar grading PCGS AU58+. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

By Kyle Clifford Knapp - August 22, 2024
Original link: https://www.pcgs.com/news/magical-grades

In the Stack’s Bowers Galleries September 2023 Collectors’ Choice Auction, an 1867 Indian Cent, PCGS certified AU58+, realized $2,280 – about 10 times the typical sales price of an AU58. Was this some sort of unattributed variety (there are two Snow-listed repunched dates for the issue), or perhaps a mint error?

It was neither. Such is simply the allure and demand for the elusive PCGS AU58+ grade, the highest Sheldon honor a circulated coin can receive. In this installment, we’ll discuss the appeal and rarity of this coveted grade and its close relative, XF45+.

Collectors have long been drawn to About Uncirculated (AU) coins because of their relative affordability compared to their more expensive uncirculated counterparts. AU coins preserve virtually all the design detail that would be seen on an uncirculated example, evidencing only the initial traces of wear or surface disturbance as would be incurred from a short period in commerce.

This 1904-O Morgan Dollar grades PCGS MS60; note the evidence of bag marks and other detractions on the obverse. Courtesy of PCGS.

Issues that were recognized as collectible and removed from circulation quickly (such as the 1909-S VDB or 1955 Doubled-Die Lincoln Cents) are plentiful in AU grades, while coins whose rarity was not discovered until many decades after their production (such as 1877 Indian Cents or 1916-D Mercury Dimes) are scarce in such a state of preservation.

Within the About Uncirculated grade range (50 to 58 on the numeric Sheldon scale), only the most-detailed, least-worn examples warrant the AU58 grade. Such coins typically appear uncirculated at first glance but upon close examination will reveal gentle touches of friction on the highest topographical elements of the design (for example, the hair just above the ear on a Morgan Dollar).

Collecting coins in this grade thus affords the opportunity to acquire “nearly new” pieces at slightly more digestible prices than equivalent examples in the lower range of the uncirculated (60-70) Sheldon spectrum. And PCGS-graded AU58 coins have always grabbed the attention of astute collectors at auction and on the show floor. In some cases, they can be even more aesthetically pleasing than MS60-61 pieces, which, while fully uncirculated, often have surfaces significantly abraded by bag marks, as the Morgan Dollar imaged here exemplifies.

This 1857 Flying Eagle Cent grades PCGS AU58+. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Within the already rarefied realm of PCGS-graded AU58 coins, a small number of exceptional pieces also receive the plus (“+”) designation. In addition to being technically well-qualified, coins must exhibit exceptional eye appeal and choice surfaces for the given grade to garner a plus from the PCGS grading team.

Pieces graded AU58+ therefore represent the ultimate representatives of their issue within the circulated realm. They are the best-available examples that entered circulation and performed their intended duty (if only for a short spell) before being identified and preserved by some long-forgotten but prescient collector, like the stunning 1817 Capped Bust Half Dollar and 1857 Flying Eagle Cent pictured alongside this text.

An 1854 Liberty Seated Quarter grading PCGS XF45+. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

It is the inherent scarcity and necessary beauty of such examples that drives the strong premiums they command. They are also the highest-graded pieces eligible for the PCGS Everyman Set Registry – a competitive space in which no uncirculated coins (and their many-zeroed price tags) are allowed.

While PCGS-certified AU58+ coins represent the crème de la crème of circulated coins, I would be remiss to not mention another “magical” grade: XF45+. Much in the way the AU58+ grade denotes the finest-possible About Uncirculated example of a particular issue, XF45+ denotes the finest-possible Extremely Fine example.

Such pieces will evidence more wear than their AU counterparts, but they still retain nearly full design detail and are situated right at the crux where mint luster fades, and the subtle, even hues of natural wear imbue a coin with the curious magic of having an undeniable past. Again the “plus” designation is a rare delicacy here – appearing only on the most attractive and desirable examples. However, such pieces, when found, are often a sight to behold, as in the illustrated 1854 Liberty Seated Quarter. Happy collecting!