New grading system: 1926-D 5c. MS-63.

In both instances the coins have the same market value. Only the descriptions are different.

In today's market coin buyers are often confronted with just numbers, with little in the way of adjectival descriptions to indicate what a coin looks like. I suggest that you, as an astute buyer, determine in advance what any coins you want to purchase do indeed look like, for once you own them, you may have to look at them for many years! If, as extensively mentioned by the Certified Coin Dealer Newsletter, alert "dealers" pay higher prices for coins they can see before making a commitment, perhaps you should also!

Brilliant vs. Toned

In the 1950s and 1960s, the term "Brilliant Uncirculated," abbreviated as BU, was used to describe Mint State coins, particularly those in the silver and copper series. The philosophy was "brilliant is best," and numerous advertisements in The Numismatist, The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, and other periodicals of the time offered dips, lotions, pastes, and other substances to brighten otherwise dull or toned pieces. Collectors became conditioned to brilliance, and coins with iridescent toning or other attractive hues were apt to be rejected as unacceptable.

I was part of this syndrome. In the early 1950s I visited a leading metropolitan dealer and sought to add the two or three pieces I needed to complete my collection of Proof Barber half dollars 1892-1915, all of which were brilliant. I was shown a 1913 Proof with attractive toning around the borders.

"I don't want it," I said naively, "as I only have brilliant coins in my collection."

"There is no problem," the dealer replied. "I will dip it and it will look as bright as the day it was minted."

"I don't want any dipped or cleaned coins," I remonstrated.