Keith is the Founder and President of ICG – Independent Coin Grading Company.  Keith co-developed and for the past four years has taught the Advanced Coin Grading Seminar at the ANA Summer Conference. His 1999 Co-Instructors included Rick Montgomery of PCGS and Mark Salzburg of NGC.

In May of 1999 the Reed 1804 Dollar (Class I) was assigned the grade of Proof-64 by ICG.

At ICG we have received literally hundreds of calls asking us about the Reed 1804 dollar.  It seems as though because this coin is in public hands (the City of Omaha owns the Reed Specimen) and on display at the Durham Western Heritage Museum, there is an increased interest in the Reed 1804 dollar as a numismatic item.  Not one person has called ICG to discuss what it is worth or even brought up the issue of value!  Discussions and questions are instead about the coin’s surfaces, the coin’s color, grading techniques, the numismatic importance of the Reed collection, the pedigree of the coin, and whether a museum item that will never be for sale should be examined by a third-party coin grading company. This interest in numismatics is a tribute to the generosity of the City of Omaha and the Durham Western Heritage Museum.

Grading the Reed coins was a pleasure.  There were not any pressures regarding the effect the ICG grades would have on the value of the coins.  The museum wanted only a third-party assessment of the condition of the Reed coins.  The curators were interested in a historical record of the current condition of the coins as preserving the coins’ condition is one their highest responsibilities.

I am taking this opportunity to write a synopsis on how ICG arrived at the grade of Proof-64 for the Reed 1804 Silver Dollar.  The majority of this article will be a description on grading Proof silver coins and then specifically the Reed 1804 Dollar.  I will begin with a brief summary of some of the factors in grading silver proof coins.

When grading any proof silver coin, there are many factors involved.  Striking factors, handling at the mint, handling by collectors, storage situation, toning, hairlines, and any of the infinitely unique occurrences that can happen to any given coin.

A coin may be struck in perfect condition from highly polished dies to perfectly prepared highly polished planchets, or there may be lint between the dies and planchet that will leave lint marks on the coin, or there may be planchet flaws that are still visible in spots if the flaws are not completely “struck up” into the dies, or there may be other foreign substances between the dies and the planchet, or the dies can begin to become eroded even on proofs, etc.  Many things can occur during striking that can effect a proof coin’s grade.  The effect on the final grade of a coin for things such as a strike-through or a planchet flaw will be determined by their size, location, depth, etc.

From the moment a coin is struck it will have the chance to pick up problems.  This will mostly be in the form of hairlines.  Hairlines occur when someone touches or lightly wipes the surface of a coin, or if someone slides the coin on a coin holder, a cloth, a pad, putting the coin in and out of a holder, etc. Anything that touches the surface of a coin and is moved can give the coin hairlines.  Hairlines are a major reason that most proof coins are down-graded to Proof-63 and Proof-64 instead of Proof-69 or Proof-70.  This is a testament to how difficult it is for the pristine surfaces of a proof coin to survive 100 years of human handling without something occurring to the coin to cause hairlines.  This rarity is reflected in the high prices of truly high-grade proof type coins.  The determining factor in the final grade generally comes from degree of hairlines.  Degree means not only quantity, but also depth, width, direction and location. 

In addition to hairlines, another problem with proof coins can be cleaning.  There are two types of cleaning: mechanical and chemical. 

Chemical cleaning refers to using various chemicals to clean the surfaces of a coin.  Many of these chemicals will actually remove a light layer of silver from the surfaces of a coin leaving “fresh” silver exposed.  In the case of proof coins this will give the proof surfaces a look of being slightly “dull” compared to their original mirror conditions.  To someone not used to examining proof coins this dullness may be mistaken for a “shininess.” This may sound like a contradiction, but in fact this shiny look occurs when the original proof surfaces are dulled as the whole coin (fields and devices) has the same look.  The more normal appearance of contrast between the devices and the fields is diminished as a light layer of silver has been removed from the devices and fields leaving both with nearly the same reflectivity.  The contrast in appearance of the fields and devices originally occurred because of the surface the silver is left with after filling up a raised design in a die (the devices) compared to the appearance of the silver that was struck against a flat, highly-polished die surface (the field). 

Mechanical cleaning refers to someone cleaning the surfaces of a coin with something abrasive.  Examples of this can include a brush, baking soda and water rubbed on the surface of a coin, excessive rubbing with a cloth or any excessive rubbing or friction that disturbs the surfaces of the coin in a manner that it takes away the original “skin” of the coin.  The “skin” is the original surfaces described above that come from the way the surfaces exist immediately after the coin is struck.  It is disruptions in these surfaces that are indications of the cleaning.

Appearance is another factor to take into account when grading a silver proof coin.  Original surfaces can tone in a beautiful manner that will help the overall grade of a coin.  However, original toning can sometimes be a negative.  For instance if toning occurs in more of a brown, splotchy, spotty or broken-up manner this is a negative and a coin will grade lower. For original toning, smooth greens, red, blues, purples and yellows will enhance the grade of a coin, and the very dark colors or browns will be considered negative.  You will notice in advertisements the color “russet” or “golden brown” in descriptions, but rarely will you see a coin described as just brown or very, very dark; this is because sellers know these are negatives.  Concentration of a spot of color on a surface can also be considered negative.  This is because one tiny dark blue spot on an otherwise all-silver coin can be completely original, yet still diminish from the coin’s grade due to the negative eye-appeal of the spot distracting from the coin’s overall appearance.

Original strike condition, hairlines or other problems, and appearance are all factors that contribute to the grade of a silver proof coin.  Other factors are problems with artificial color, mechanical and chemical cleaning (these can cause grading services, such as ICG, to “No-Grade” coins).

The Reed 1804 Dollar was in the condition of a typical proof type coin.  The reverse is really easier to describe because it was in such terrific condition.  The reverse had typical proof surfaces, almost completely “white” in color (no toning) with no interruptions to speak of in the surfaces due to hairlines or other factors.  The fact the obverse was toned and the reverse was not is an indication the coin was stored reverse down against something that protected the reverse from oxidation.  The reverse had nice “blast”, no hairlines and no signs of cleaning and no major striking problems.

The obverse of the Reed 1804 Dollar exhibited light hairlines going from the bust to the rim at about 4 o’clock.  These could have occurred in a number of ways, but most likely from someone’s fingers or clothing lightly grazing the fragile pristine surfaces, a light wipe, clumsy removal from a holder or some sort of storage situation that allowed something to lightly touch this part of the coin’s obverse.  If these hairlines and original striking factors were the only things considered in grading the obverse of the coin, I am quite certain most numismatists would call the coin a low to medium Proof-64. 

The coin also exhibited beautiful blue and iridescent hues on the obverse.  This toning had occurred after the light hairlines so we know the hairlines occurred a long time ago.  All four of the ICG graders found the color on the obverse to be quite attractive.  For myself assigning the final grade to the Reed 1804 Dollar was fairly easy as the attractive color made it easy to conclude the Reed 1804 Dollar was a mid-range Proof-64. 

I have tried to describe all the thoughts that go through a grader’s mind when grading a coin, but realistically most of these things become innate.  A grader looks at a coin and processes all the positive and negative factors simultaneously.  Strike, appearance, luster, surfaces, marks, color, problems, etc. are all processed together and a grade is formed based on previous experience and gained knowledge.

In closing I have to mention some of the most fun in grading the Reed1804 Dollar occurred later at lunch when the ICG graders began debating who had previously experienced the most impressive 1804 Dollar story. Lew Larsen had side-by-side examined an 1804 Dollar and a Brasher Doubloon.  Most would say he was easily trumped by J.P. Martin who in addition to having personally examined over half the 1804 specimens also had side-by-side examined three 1804 Dollars and two 1913 Liberty Nickels.  ICG is known for our unbiased grading, but in judging this matter, I will show extreme bias and side with Lew just to give J.P. the lofty goal of examining all fifteen 1804 Dollars.

ÓKeith Love,  June1999