How To Grade Two Cent Shield PhotoGrading

G4 (Good) Most of the motto is worn off, rims are still evident but mostly flat, and almost all of the shield is worn to a near outline. Reverse wheat stalks are mostly worn with a few details of the grains but mostly flat from wear.

F15 (Fine) Most of the motto is readable but WE and the lines in the shield can be plainly seen with minimal wear, the leaves have some of their inner outlines. On the reverse you can see more inner wheat stalk and grain lines but high points are still flat.

VF25 (Very Fine) You start to see more definition of the lines in the leaves, the WE, and shield, but the over all design has more depth than the fine examples. On the reverse you can see some detail of the ribbon lines and of the lower wreath area and wheat leaves. The rim and denticals are mostly defined.

VF35 (Very Fine) Just a little more detail in the lines of the leaves, arrow knocks and motto. On the reverse you can see more details of the ribbon and definition of the wheat grains.

EF45 (Extremely Fine) You should be able to read the entire motto but the WE can still be weak, and some mint luster can be present. The line in the shield, arrows and leaves are well defined and have more depth. On the reverse the wreath is near complete in details and is well defined with ribbon tie retaining most of the detail.

 

AU55 (Almost Uncirculated) The coin only has wear on the highest points of the design and will have a few more marks than an AU58 but less than the AU50. The difference between AU50 through AU59 is the slightest difference in wear on the high points and the amount of contact marks from circulation. The AU58 grade will have the least amount of wear and may be defined by one side only having a slight rub on the high point. An AU50 will have more areas of slight rubs on more high points and on reverse and obverse of the coin.

MS62 Brown (BN) The coin has no wear, retains original luster, and can be defined as BN, BR or RD. In MS62 there will be obvious and medium amount of nicks, ticks and chatter along with some larger contact marks. A BN condition will either have no red luster present or only slight red showing in along the creases of the design.

MS63 Red/Brown (RB) has a a mixture of red and brown luster and brown and red luster can come in many shades. It must have 94% or less red luster to be RB. MS63 has less large marks than MS60 through MS62 but will still have close to the same amount as small chatter marks as the MS62.

MS64 Red (RD) has much less distracting contact marks than an MS63 but can still have some large ones, but has a larger absence of the smaller chatter marks most evident on grades MS60 through MS63. RD examples have at least 95% of their original red luster.

Related link: Two Cent Shield Values 1864-73