Though evaluating coins has turned to a field requiring licensed people, one of the key aspects of a coin's market value is its grading. Although there are different means various evaluators use to find out coin grades, the system created by Dr. William Shelby is one of the most recurrently used in the United States. The coin grades system is based on a rating of 0 to 70, with 70 being totally ideal mint form and a 0 meaning it may be recognizable as being a coin a long time ago.

While finding out an precise grade requires experience as well as technique but for general purposes, somebody can get a logical idea of the coin grades in their collection with a magnifying glass and a little know-how of the coin grades mean. It is rare that a coin will rank a grade of Mint State (MS) 70 while it may be uncirculated, will have ever so minimum stains from being covered in a roll and transported to banks where it makes its way to the grocery store.

The likelihood of finding a coin graded MS 67 or 68 in a roll of coins from the bank or establishment is about 100,000 to one. Almost Uncirculated (AU) coin grades are classified as AU 50 to 60 and while they will appear faultless on the outside, looking mindfully at the highest points on the coin there will be little visible signs of wear.

Extremely Fine (EF) will uncover only little wear on the highest points of the coin and Very Fine (VF) will have minimum wear on the top points but all highlights are bold and clear, but might be some degradation on fine traits such as hair or feathers on a few coins. Worst of the best coin grades is fine (F) which still shows the fine traits but a lot of the details are gone and are more often than not graded as F-12.