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How to Grade Barber Dimes

The Barber dime was minted in the United States between 1892 and 1916, replacing the Seated Liberty dime. Coin collectors today value these coins and look for high grade Barber dimes to add to their collections. Many of the rare dates in the Barber dimes are hard to find in higher grades. If you want to add Barber dimes to your collection, you'll need to know a few key techniques for determining the grade of your coins to ensure you get the highest grade for your money.

Things You'll Need

Magnifying glass

Instructions

- 1
  Consider purchasing one of the top coin pricing guides. This will help you grade and determine the value of your Barber dimes. Some of the industry standard coin price guides include "Coin Prices," published by Krause Publications and "A Guidebook to United States Coins" by R.S.Yeoman. This book is often referred to as the red book.
- 2
  Place your Barber dime under bright lighting and use a magnifying glass to examine your coin for detail. A heavily worn coin with details that have begun to smooth out and a rim that no longer has any definition is considered "About Good" and is not worth a lot of money. Most of the Barber dimes you'll find are in this category.
- 3
  Look for raised details on the front and back of the Barber dime. The wreath will have defined edges and not blend into the lettering. There will be a raised rim all the way around the rim of the dime. There may be some wear. This is a good grade, worth collecting, but still of no real monetary value, unless the dime falls into one of the rare series dates, such as the 1895, 1896-O and -S or the 1901-S, 1903-S. Always refer to a coin price guide to check specific dates for collector value.
- 4
  Examine the front of the Barber dime and look for the word "Liberty" on the wreath. Any three letters visible will give the coin a VG (Very Good) grade. All of the letters in "Liberty" bring the coin up to a fine status. Any detail above this brings the coin to very fine or extremely fine grading and significantly raises the value.

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