For most of numismatic history, the highest possible degree on the familiar 1-to-70 mint grading scale was an ideal to be considered rather than a realistic grad to be attained. It was a number conceived in a period where most collectors were consumed with a desire to collect what we today call “ classical coins ” .
NGC and PCGS, the top marking services, have never given a classic coin a 70 score, although, amazingly, a small number of coins, including a few Saint-Gaudens doubly eagles and Morgan dollars, have come close, grading Mint State-69 .
As minting technology improved, however, “ perfect ” coins became potential.
PCGS gave its first MS-70 class in 1988 to a 1987-W Constitution $ 5 gold commemorative ,. It was a become indicate for the hobby and marked a the beginning of a grand piano phase of development for the coin industry. Since that point, the proportion of mod coins earning 70s has increased at a stagger rate .
What, however, does a 70 mean?
How can anything be perfect ?
Let ’ s focus on MS-70, besides known as Perfect Uncirculated, although the standards for Proof-70 are exchangeable .
The official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins, the essential koran on mint grade, describes MS-70 as “ The perfective coin. ” It goes on to define this rate, state :
“ No contact marks are visible under exaggeration. There are no noticeable hairlines, scuff marks, or defects. ”
The PCGS Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection offers a subtle but significant change to this definition, read :
“ An MS-70 coin has no defect of any kind visible with a 5X ( 5-power ) glass ”
while NGC ’ south wording allows for a insidious difference, denoting an MS-70 as ,
“ A coin with no post-production imperfections at 5x exaggeration. ”
What you should take away from reading the PCGS and NGC definitions is that an MS-70 coin does not have to possess microscopic paragon .
A coin earns a perfect score if no defects appear after careful inspection with a lens. Put another means, the MS-70 coins that you see trade every day are not necessarily perfect in an absolute sense. rather, all a coin has to be in order to earn the 70 class is to appear perfect during the grader ’ sulfur close and intelligent revue .
The market premium typically applies for any coin that passes that review and ends up in an MS-70 holder from a one of the two aforementioned grading services. A buyer, however, needs to understand a series and each coin in that series before deciding how much of a premium to pay for a perfect coin .
Close, but no Cigar
What about coins graded MS-69 ?
fortunately, the information needed to understand the monetary value dispute between MS-69 and MS-70 coins is not unvoiced to find. The NGC and PCGS price guides, available on-line and in their smartphone apps, show which issues graded MS-70 gain big bucks and which warrant alone modest, if any, premiums .
Of course, check substantial world prices before paying the price guide value, which may be besides depleted or, more often, besides high compared to actual sales in the rare coin market. Price guides show relative prices ( whether one coin is more valuable or less valuable than another ) better than they show accurate amounts.
Read more: Coin Dealers: What To Expect The First Time You Meet With A Coin Dealer To Buy Or Sell Coins
As an example, look at the CoinWeek Price Guide for Mint State Silver Eagles, the most popular modern coins .
For early years, MS-70 Silver Eagles earn enormous premiums. A 1987 or 1990 Silver Eagle in PCGS MS-69 is worth about $ 35. The measure in MS-70 goes up to $ 1,200 to $ 1,500 for the 1987 Silver Eagle or a sock $ 5,000+ for the 1990 coin .
PCGS has certified 88 1987 Silver Eagles as MS-70 and only six 1990 coins in Perfect Uncirculated. With hundreds of thousands of Silver Eagle collectors competing for these few coins, the up price pressure, historically, has been intense .
As manufacture standards tightened, more perfect coins came out of the Mint and 70s appeared more often. This had the expected consequences for the market agio of these perfect coins .
A 2007 Silver Eagle, for exercise, has a book value of $ 28 in PCGS MS-69 and about three times a much, $ 80 to 90, in MS-70 .
You still need to pay a premium for one of the several thousand perfect coins certified then far, but that premium is immediately an low-cost amount .
today, the bedspread has tightened even more and the MS-69 and MS-70 values for 2017 Silver Eagles are $ 34 and $ 47, respectively, meaning the perfective coin and about perfect mint differ by entirely a few dollars .
The Silver Eagle illustrates the MS-70 marketplace well because it is a widely collected coin with grade sensitive buyers and because 70s exist for all dates .
Looking at other series shows that, in some cases, the perfective grade remains elusive .
Most coins made for circulation, for example, rarely or never appear in MS-70 .
Bulk wield practices necessary for circulating coins mean that coins will not make their way into the hands of collectors without some humble defect. Looking at the PCGS price guidebook for Jefferson nickels, for example, shows merely one go steady with a price list for a circulation coin in MS-70. Two 1994-P coins have therefore army for the liberation of rwanda earned this perfect score. The PCGS price guide gives $ 5,000 as the value, but we will need to wait for a public auction to learn if the grocery store value is higher or lower .
similarly, no Presidential dollar has ever earned an MS-70 from PCGS, or even an MS-69 .
On the other hand, PCGS and NGC grade late U.S. commemorative amber coins as MS-70 at a rate of about 80 %. That is, the great majority of these coins earn perfective scores .
When I bought five 2017-W Boys Town $ 5 uncirculated aureate coins as a guess, for exemplar, I kept the four that I thought would grade 70 and sent the one slenderly progressive coin back for a refund .
other recent U.S. Mint gold collector coins, such as First Spouse one-half ounce coins or 2016 hundredth anniversary gold Mercury dimes, besides normally rate 70.
Although 70s are common, the market still values the grade and certified MS-70 examples can earn 30-50 % more than uncertified coins. Keep in heed, there is a cost to having your coins graded and some of the commercialize bounty for 70s covers the cost of encapsulation .
NGC-Certified MS-70 Coins Currently Available on eBay
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