Edward VII Coin grading

[Chris Perkins 223]

Who finds British Edward VII coins the hardest coins to grade from the last 200 years of British coins?

[Sylvester 15]

Oh yes...i'm glad it's not just me.

I really struggle to grade these coins, with the obverse of nearly every Edward VII coin that i've graded coming out as a FINE, even when the coin is much better. The reverses are somewhat better, but i always find it annoying how on the Florins the last digit of the date, (the important one!) is always the first to go...so is that 1906? 1905?, 1903? or perhaps 1908?

The other coins that i find hard to grade are the George V obverses, especially the early ones, and the 1953 first issue of Queen Elizabeth II where the striking is somewhat flat and it caused a great deal of trouble at the mint so much so that in 1954 the obverse dies had to be recut to gain the sharper strike of the latter issues.

I also find the fourth portrait of QE2 used from 1998 onwards somewhat challenging due to the low relief.

Sylvester.

[Chris Perkins 223]

Yes I agree, you just summed up all of the difficult to grade British coins of the last 100 years.

Chris

[Guest Geoff]

The flatness of the obverse of Edward VII and pre-1928 George V half crowns I find a problem too. I tend to see how much the "I" of honi and "P" of pense in the garter motto is still clear. It's also remarkable how some people (and eBay has its share of offenders) woefully overgrade coins of this period. I've seen things described as EF I'd barely rate as F.

Geoff

[Sylvester 15]

The flatness of the obverse of Edward VII and pre-1928 George V half crowns I find a problem too. I tend to see how much the "I" of honi and "P" of pense in the garter motto is still clear. It's also remarkable how some people (and eBay has its share of offenders) woefully overgrade coins of this period. I've seen things described as EF I'd barely rate as F.

Geoff

Yes the 'I' and the 'P' are the things to look for when grading these coins.

Often with the E7 stuff i rely on the rev for grading the coin. (not my area of expertise you might say )

E7 2/6d's also wear different to the G5 ones, + they wear much faster.

Syl.