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Denver Gold and Silver Coins
600 South Holly Street Suite 103
Denver, Colorado 80246
Open
Monday - Thursday from 9 am to 6 pm
Friday and Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm
Call anytime - leave a message: 303-835-8892
Almost
Uncirculated (AU) - Small trace of wear visible on the highest
points
AU coins come in AU-50, AU-55 and AU-58. As a novice, you probably
won't be able to tell the difference between AU and Unc coins. I
know I have trouble a lot of the time. The most important thing in
grading an AU coin is to know is where the high points are on a
particular coin so that you can look for the minimal wear there.
Practice by taking a new coin from the bank, rub it back and forth
on your mouse pad vigorously a few times, and see if you can see the
wear. Hold the coin nearly sideways in a bright light so that the
light reflects at a low angle off the coin. Look for a difference in
how the light reflects from most of the coin versus the very highest
points. If it doesn't reflect off of the high points the same way as
it does from the rest of the coin, then you probably have an AU
coin. Note that most AU-58 coins look much better than most MS-60
coins. One of the weird things about coins is that an ugly
uncirculated coin often sells for more than a beautiful coin with
barely perceptible wear. |