Wear - Once an uncirculated coin is touched, a small portion of the luster is removed. This is called wear.
Whizzing - The process of attempting to add luster to a coin by polishing the coin with a buffing wheel.
Wear - The abrasion of metal from a coin's surface caused by normal handling and circulation.
Wear - Metal lost during handling and contact with other objects.
Whizzing - Alteration by mechanical polishing to produce a shiny surface.
World Coins - Coins issued by various nations, as in a collection comprised of coins thereof.
Wear
Visible erosion of metal, usually beginning from the highest points of a coins. Eventually, lettering, details, or entire devices are obliterated. Wear should not be confused with a weak strike.
Die wear - The loss of detail on a coin due to wear on the die used to strike it.
Dime - The denomination, ten cents, issued since 1796 by the United States.
Ding - Slang for a small to medium sized mark on a coin.
die wear Deterioration in a die caused by excessive use. This may evidence itself on coins produced with that die in a few indistinct letters or numerals or, in extreme cases, a loss of detail throughout the entire coin.
Die Wear
Dies are commonly used to strike huge numbers of coins. Even if they are replaced before they break, gradual wearing can lead to the production of coins which appear to be weakly struck.
Die Wear - Dies that get worn through use will start to strike coins with less definition and the coins that are weakly struck due to die wear will often sell for lower than better struck coins.
die wear
Deterioration in a die caused by excessive use, resulting in coins of less detail than desired.
dime ...
Die Wear - Dies as they strike a vast number of coins start to show signs of wear; this causes the coins they strike to appear rather weakly struck. Coins can be as struck but appear to be only Very Fine.
Wear is a very important consideration when grading and selecting a coin but it is not the only consideration. Our first two coins are both silver tetradrachms of Syracuse, Sicily, from the 5th century BC.
Wear can commonly be found to the higher areas of these Sovereigns including the lettering, Victoria's head, the shield or St. George also have a tendency to show signs of wear.
Wear will be obvious but it will be more confined than on lower grade coins. Much of the wear will be localized on the tip of the coronet, the hair near the ear of Liberty and the wing tips.
Wear shows first on the head, breast and knee of Liberty. On circulated pieces, LIBERTY will begin to wear along with the other devices mentioned. On the reverse, the initial wear points are the eagle's breast and the top of its wings.
Wear - Metal lost during handling and contact with other objects.
Wheaties - Refers to Lincoln cents with the wheat ears reverse, issued from 1909 through 1958.
Whizzing - Alteration by mechanical polishing to produce a shiny surface.
Wear first appears on this design on Liberty's hair, cap, drapery and cheek. On the reverse, check the clouds and the eagle's wings and breast feathers.
Wear is now around 10% - 15% from the highest points of the design. Lightly scattered detracting marks are obvious. Still overall a pleasant coin.
gVF
"good Very Fine" ...
Wear
The slow removal of metal from the surface of a coin caused by everyday handling and circulation.
White ...
No wear may be present for this grade. Luster must be present, including on the high points. Coin may have been dipped at one time, possibly to remove stains or spots, but not to the extent luster is seriously impaired.
Die Wear - After striking coins repeatedly, due to heat and friction, the surfaces of the dies show wear. Periodically, the striking process is halted and one or more of the dies are resurfaced to remove blemishes.
Even wear on this near mint example from the 2nd year of operation from the San Francisco mint. Attractive and quite scarce in such a lofty grade as these coins were produced to facilitate commerce during the early days of the Gold Rush.
Slight wear on a coin's high points or in the fields.
frost
A crystallized-metal effect seen in the recessed areas of a die, thus the raised parts of a coin struck with that die.
Always wear protective gloves and goggles, as well as an apron, when working with strong chemicals. They're not quite as strong as Sigourney Weaver's fighting moves, but they pack a punch.
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Comments ...
The more wear a coin receives the more it is apt to acquire other evidences of contact, such as nicks, edge bumps, and scratches.
Fine: Wear has begun to take its toll on this quarter. Flattened areas of wear cover Washington's hair and curls. Although the hair line along the forehead is visible.
Because of wear problems many early buffalo nickels dates have been completely worn off. Dateless buffalo nickels can have their dates restored by applying a ferric chloride solution to the date area.
Very light wear. There is about half of the original color.
Choice About Uncirculated (AU-55)
Very light wear. There is almost all of the original color.
coins with wear that have been handled, in any condition
Clad coin
coins are made by compositing layers of metal together.
Now you can wear that old relic, sell it, or give it to your loved one.
I wish I would have learned this technique before I sold most of my broken jewelry as scrap.
- rubbing or wear on the highest points of a coin surface. In the days of wooden coin cabinets as coin drawers were opened and moved the coins inside would often slide around, thereby gradually rubbing against the drawer bottom.
Humans often wear articles of clothing (also known as dress, garments or attire) on the body (for the alternative, see nudity).
The amount of wear, or appearance of wear, on a coin.
Style
A reflection of the artistic skill of the celator (die engraver).
There is light wear on the high points of the designs, but there is still an excellent overall sharpness. Considerable mint luster will still show in the protected areas.
Very Fine - no wear on the wheat heads and the cheek and jaw lines are worn but clearly separate
Extra Fine - only the slightest signs of wear: all details are visible and sharp ...
Combined with the wear the dies suffer through the striking of large numers of coins is the practice of polishing the dies and using them longer, leading to increased wear.
friction Slight wear on a coin's high points or in the fields.
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
(Click on a letter to jump to that page of the glossary.) ...
Do keep in mind that often older circulated coins are a bit lighter from wear. Here are some estimates of weight... New, unused or uncirculated copper cents weigh about 3.11 grams each or about 145 copper pennies per pound.
circulated A term applied to a coin that has wear, ranging from slight rubbing to heavy wear. circulation A term applied to coins that have been spent in commerce and have received wear.
grade - The condition or amount of wear that a coin has received. Generally, the less wear a given coin has received, the more valuable it is. Coins are graded on the A.N.A. numerical system from About Good-3 to Perfect Uncirculated-70.
cabinet friction Slight surface wear on a coin, token or medal caused by friction between it and the tray or envelope in which it is contained.
grade describes how much - or how little - wear and tear coins have. The ANA scale measures - or grades - coins from "About Good - 3" to "Perfect Uncirculated - 70".
Grade: The rating of a coin's place on a numerical scale which encompasses the range between extreme wear and perfection.
Hairlines: Fine scratches, which are caused by cleaning a coin with an abrasive.
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Usually indicating the amount of wear. (See grading standards) contact mark - a mark or marks on a coin that happened from coming in contact with another coin or object. Usually contact marks are small.
Very Good (VG): Considerable wear over the whole coin, and high spots worn through. Coins in this or the previous grades are really only collectable if extremely rare. This picture is of the reverse of a 1905 penny which is Good to Very Good (i.e.
(F-12) Fine - Very worn, but wear is even and overall design elements stand out boldly. Almost fully-separated rims.
(VF-20) Very Fine - Moderately worn, with some finer details remaining.
The existence of the an identical coin -- not only one made from the same dies but also one with the same centering, strike (including flan cracks), wear patterns, and surface damage (scratches, pits, corrosion).
SUPERLATIVE GEM UNCIRCULATED - A virtually flawless coin, exactly as it was minted and it has no trace of wear or unusual striking traits.
CHOICE GEM UNCIRCULATED - A virtually flawless coin with very minor imperfections.
On becoming a public man he made a resolution "never to engage, while in public office, in any kind of enterprise for the improvement of my fortune, nor to wear any other character than that of a farmer.
One night in the cylinder would wear the edges of the blanks smooth. The coining press was a screw, with an iron bar about ten feet long through the top. On each end of this bar was a leaden weight of perhaps five hundred pounds.
Excessive wear of the numerals continued to plague Buffalo nickels. Barber again made minor modifications in 1916 by lowering the relief of the head and strengthening several details, including the nose.
A coin having any wear, even the slightest friction, cannot be uncirculated, period. I have always been puzzled because slight wear counts for so much and heavy marks, even cuts, called bagmarks, are found to be acceptable on uncirculated coins.
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.
Coins graded Very Good show very heavy wear over the entire surface of the coin. The outline of the main design, however, should be easily seen.
An attribute is usually something attached to or held by the figure portrayed: thus a bust might be laureate or diademed, hold a sceptre or palm branch; a standing figure might be naked or draped, wear headgear or not, or hold branch, cornucopiae, ...
FDC = Fleur-de-Coin (Absolutely flawless, without any wear scratches or fingerprints.)
Unc. = Uncirculated (In new condition as issued, but not necessarily perfect.) ...
This produced the so-called 'red-nose' pennies after slight wear. A rise in prices was the inevitable result of debasement.
The best way to learn to tell if a coin has wear is through actual experience. Compare a coin which you know is uncirculated to a slightly circulated (AU) coin with equal detail.
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