International Coin Grading Scales

In the United States, the NGC Grading Scale is widely used to accurately and concisely communicate a coin’s condition. While 70 is the highest grade assigned, not all numbers 1–70 are used. In total, there are 30 discrete numerical grades assigned, and 11 of them are assigned to coins that show no evidence of having been in circulation (grades 60–70).

The number of grades allows for exceptional precision when describing the condition of any individual coin or when comparing two similar specimens. While the NGC Grading Scale invites extremely precise descriptions, its major advantage is that grades are assigned by trained and impartial experts. This means that the application of grades is not only precise, but accurate and consistent.

Grading scales vary widely internationally, and almost all use many fewer grades to describe a coin’s condition — some as few as five. This chart describes how grading systems around the world may correspond to the NGC Grading Scale. Since the application of these scales can vary, this should be viewed as a rough guideline only.

NGC USA
USA		 England
England		 France
France		 Germany
Germany		 Italy
Italy		 Poland
Poland		 Spain
Spain
MS 70              
MS 69              
MS 68              
MS 67 Superb Uncirculated   FDC exceptionnel        
MS 66              
MS 65 Gem Uncirculated FDC Fleur de coin (FDC)   Fior di conio (FDC) Stan 1 Flor de cuno (FDC)
MS 64              
MS 63 Choice Uncirculated UNC   Stempelglanz (ST)      
MS 62              
MS 61             Sin circular (SC)
MS 60 Uncirculated            
AU 58              
AU 55   EF Superbe (SUP) Vorzüglich (VZ) Splendido (SPL) Stan 2  
AU 53             Extraordinariamente bien
conservada (EBC)
AU 50 About Uncirculated          
XF 45              
XF 40 Extremely Fine VF Trés trés beau (TTB) Sehr schön (SS) Bellissimo (BB)    
VF 35              
VF 30             Muy bien conservada (MBC)
VF 25           Stan 3  
VF 20 Very Fine F Trés beau (TB) Schön (S) Molto bello (MB)    
F 15              
F 12 Fine           Bien conservada (BC)
VG 10              
VG 8 Very Good G Beau (B) Sehr gut erhalten (SGE) Bello (B) Stan 4 Regular conservada (RC)
G 6              
G 4 Good            
AG 3 About Good AG Bien conservée Gering (GE) Discreto (M) Stan 5 Mal conservada (MC)
FA 2 Fair            
PR 1 Poor            
PF/SP Proof Proof / SP Flan bruni (FB) Polierte Platte (PP) Fondo specchio (FS)   Proof
Prooflike Prooflike Prooflike Aspect flan bruni