RICHARD
J. REED
P. O. BOX 20665
SARASOTA,
FL 34276-3665
GRADING
STANDARDS FOR BANKNOTES AND SIMILAR PAPER ITEMS
GENERALIZED, NON-SPECIFIC GRADES:
LOW
GRADE or HEAVILY CIRCULATED -
generally POOR to VERY GOOD (see below specific grades)
MID
GRADE or CIRCULATED -
generally VERY GOOD to VERY FINE (see below specific grades)
MIXED
CIRCULATED - generally LOW
GRADE to HIGH GRADE circulated (see below specific grades)
HIGH
GRADE or LIGHTLY CIRCULATED -
generally VERY FINE to ALMOST UNCIRCULATED (see below specific grades)
VIRTUALLY
NEW - generally ALMOST
UNCIRCULATED to full UNCIRCULATED (see below specific grades)
SPECIFIC GRADES:
POOR
- a virtual 'dog,' generally a raggy, dirty, torn, and sometimes
taped-up
poor-excuse of a banknote that has seen better days and is generally
collectible
only as a filler or curiosity unless it is extremely rare.
FAIR
- this is barely one step up, maybe not quite so raggy or dirty but
perhaps
missing a piece or more of the note along with other defects.
This
grade still exhibits extreme limpness generally.
GOOD
- like the grade 'GOOD' for a coin, GOOD really isn't so good although
it is possible to have a semi-attractive note that still grades only
GOOD
due to the fact that it may have tears and small missing pieces as well
as heavy creasing. Most GOOD notes have seen a lot of circulation
and will show evidence of this such as many heavy folds, stains, edge
tears
perhaps extending into the design, pinholes, a center hole from
excessive
folding, etc.
VERY
GOOD
- this grade will have fewer or less severe defects than the grade of
GOOD
and a number of VG notes are in fact quite attractive, especially
instances
where a note has been folded and refolded numerous times on the same
creases,
wearing a small hole through center and maybe causing a tear to appear
in the design. At this point I want to introduce the notion of
split
grades, that is, an instance where the note is clearly better than GOOD
but not quite VG. In this case, we might call the grade G-VG or
G+
or even aVG (about very good). Experience is the best teacher for
this; after you've handled dozens of well-used notes, you may feel more
comfortable about split grading. Maybe you'll never feel comfortable
because
you might not even like the idea. We use split grades on occasion
and believe most dealers and collectors do. I am less enthusiastic
about
the use of a 70-point grading scale such as is used for
grading
coins; more on this when we get there.
FINE
-
this grade exhibits still considerable circulation with a number of
creases,
folds, wrinkles, minor border tears (which cannot enter the design
portion
of the note), and maybe a few pin or staple holes. At this point, a
note
is appearing somewhat attractive at least. After handling enough
different
notes, you'll come across some that appear to meet or exceed a certain
grade except for some defect. Usually, this is handled by
assigning
that grade to the note but following it with a description of the
defect.
For example, you might have a note that is at least a FINE except for
that
somewhat obvious stain in which case you would describe it as FINE but
stained or FINE but moderately stained or FINE but heavy corner stain,
etc., whatever the case might be. Naturally the value of a note
like
this would normally be lower than a defect-free note of the same grade.
Generally the higher grade a note is, the more 'picky' you should be
about
describing a defect that is not a normal characteristic of that
grade.
For example a VERY FINE note with a tiny tear or two might be listed as
VF but border tear or could just be downgraded (or net graded) to F-VF
or "net F-VF,"
though the
tear should still be described.
VERY
FINE
- Moving along, we start getting into the truly bright and more
attractive
notes in the VF grade and up. General characteristics of a VF
note
include: not more than a few vertical/and horizontal folds, a crisp
paper,
edges and corners can show slight wear but no tears are found in the
border
areas or anywhere else for that matter on the typical VF note. A slight
amount of soil or smudging can be present but this should really be
minimal
in my opinion.
EXTREMELY
FINE - This is an extremely attractive
note,
showing only minor evidence of handling. According to the grading
standards of the International Bank Note Society, or IBNS, an EF note
may
exhibit 'a maximum of three light folds or one strong crease.' An
EF note is bright and without signs of soil. To the casual observer, it
should appear just about new. There will be only very minute wear on
the
corners or edges.
ABOUT
UNCIRCULATED
- The next step up from extremely fine, this is a note which would
grade
uncirculated except for some very minor handling or use such as a
so-called
wallet fold where the note has a very light fold (not a creased
fold).
An AU note might have a slight bend or wrinkle from being counted. In
any
case, this remains a very bright, new-looking note. An AU-UNC
designation
is often applied to notes with an extremely inconspicuous counting
wrinkle,
or a note which might have a tiny corner nick, rippled surface of the
paper
(due to humidity or some other environmental condition), or a note
having
a so-called dimple at the top of the security strip.
UNCIRCULATED
- New, as issued, with no defects with one possible exception. It
is possible to have an UNC note that has staple holes, this due to the
fact that some countries, including India and Pakistan, normally staple
quantities of notes together prior to issue. In this case, a
description
of 'UNC - usual staple holes' is the rule. Otherwise, an
uncirculated
note is just that. More so in regards to U. S. paper currency but also
occasionally used in describing UNC world notes are the adjectives
'choice'
and 'gem.' I could see a particularly well-centered, attractive
note
perhaps earning one of these designations, however, I'm not convinced
we
need both terms. This mainly due to the concern that people would
next move toward a silly multi-point UNC grading system like that of
coins,
particularly U. S. coins. In fact this has already happened. Some very
rare (and not-so-very-rare) U. S. and world notes are being "slabbed"
(put in special sealed
holders)
and commercially graded by numismatic grading companies using the
70-point
scale.
Just
my personal
opinion, but it seems like a convenient way to squeeze a lot more
dollars
for a "superb gem UNC MS-66 note." To newcomers to the numismatic
community, "MS" refers to mint state (i. e. Uncirculated) and the "66"
part indicates the relative "grade of uncirculation" with 60 being the
lowest and 70 the ultimate or theoretically "perfect" note. About
Uncirculated would range from 50 to 59, etc. This system has been
in use for a number of years now in the coin business. The worst
part is, the difference in a coin's value from a single key grading
range
(say MS-65 to MS-66) can be thousands of dollars for a "rare"
item.
This great difference in perceived value by some is why the whole
grading
system is controversial by nature because grading, is, in the final
analysis,
subjective (i. e. "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"). Thus, there
is a lot of room for abuse. Also I have not been impressed with
the grading of some of the so-called professional grading
companies. I once sold a slabbed note that looked to me to be in
VG grade but the grade on the holder said VF! I warned the
potential buyers of this (the note was in an auction) and still it sold
for at least the price of a nice VF note - go figure!). I believe
a
note will stand on its own; if it's hard to find, attractive, and
actively
sought by collectors, it's going to bring a better price. Many
world
notes are also common, but so attractive that they are always eagerly
snapped
up by enthusiastic collectors. There are a number of older notes
from hard-to-find countries that list for a low price in The Standard Catalog of World Paper Money
but sell for multiples of the catalog price due to the fact they are so
difficult to locate. Most world paper collectors and dealers
with experience will tell you the catalog is a starting point guide but
there are many values listed in there that don't "jive" with the real
world - they are either too high or too low in many cases.
Another
item
to perhaps bear in mind, the grading system for U. S. notes is similar
in many ways to that of world notes, but it has been my experience that
the world system is generally more conservative, particularly for the
upper
grades. I have seen ads like "UNC - 1 fold." What does that
mean? Sounds like an EF or AU note to me (EF if creased, AU if
just
a light fold or "wallet bend").
An
additional
point - notes, like coins, have sometimes been cleaned or had their
appearance
improved in some way. This is not always apparent. Some
collectors have no problem with this, others
feel, as with coins, that the items shouldn't be altered in any way.
For
notes, alterations can include actually washing the note (literally
"laundering
money!"), trimming it, erasing graffiti, pressing the note, mending
tears,
etc. The buyer should be aware that a note can be washed and pressed to
improve its grade and a note altered in this way should not command the
price of a note naturally appearing in this grade. A word of advice on
mending tears, if you are inclined to mend tears, please don't use
cellophane
tape. Sooner or later it makes a mess of whatever its been taped to as
it turns yellow and brittle. If you feel you need to tape a tear, use
the
permanent translucent tape that's now widely available.
Hopefully
this clarifies grading a little if you're a beginner or at least serves
to demonstrate my interpretation of it and what kind of grading
criteria
you should expect and demand from my company. Clients have been,
I am happy to report, very pleased with the quality of service as
the return rate for notes has been a tiny fraction of far less
than one percent. (These grading standards taken from my
misterbanknote web site)
