Official ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins (Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards f)

Good detail can't wait to talk to sales person where I get coins.

Great photos makes it easy to grade coins. Lots of pictures and good descriptions help to quickly grade coins.

A great reference and current

Images, as references, when reading about grading a coin is as important as is the descriptive text that writes about metal wear, luster and condition. Using the ANA grading standard manual gives insight into that threshold between grades. A must-have in any serious coin collector's library.

This is a difficult book to review.The fundamental positive is that this book just might save you several hundred dollars (or more!) by keeping you from falling into a phony, TPG overgrading trap. The ANA's standards clearly are stated, and anyone determined to enter the rare-coin market absolutely needs to learn them.The bad news is that there is a lot of rote in this book -- what is said about Liberty quarter eagles is pretty much what is said about Buffalo nickels, &c. Photos of the different coins, their grades, and where one should look for wear do help; but, dozens of pages telling me that MS70 is a perfect coin with no wear or marks, and that MS69 is slightly impaired and MS67 slightly more so really does not explain critical nuances of grading.I would have preferred to see more information re what to expect in the real world of real coins -- what exactly IS the difference between a Philadelphia half eagle that is worn to VF and a Dahlonega half eagle that looks about the same but properly grades AU. Perhaps this is asking too much from a general book; however, this would have been more helpful than endless repetition of the ANA standards mindlessly applied to each type of U.S. mint issue.The Commemorative section also is wanting -- principal commemoratives are listed with a description of where wear typically first appears; however, there are no photos, so the information is not much more than one might find in a Red Book.Finally, there is no mention of Territorial (private) gold, and since I recently came across an Augustus Humboldt eagle, it would have been nice to know what to look for (especially since a private mint well might suffer from the kinds of deficiencies which can lead to weak strikes vis-a-vis worn features).Bottom line here is that one needs to know how, himself, to grade coins, and this book definitely is a step in the right direction, especially for novice collectors and coin "investors" who become the principal marks for overgraded offerings.Those people NEED to buy this book!If, however, you are more specialized and are looking for detailed information beyond application of ANA standards to regular issues, then you probably need to look elsewhere.

Just what I needed for my coin collection info

Great source of detailed info.

Sent this to a family member who's starting to spend a lot of time collecting and organizing coins and wanted to learn more. They were delighted with this as a reference guide.

An absolute necessity for accurate grading of your coins. Worth every penny. You will keep it forever.

Perfecto

What I expected great value