Grading Paper Money

Grading currency is very subjective. Condition relates to value with currency, just like with cars, antiques, coins, stamps, baseball cards, and anything else of value. Things that detract from a notes value are tears, stains, creases, folds, bent corners and irregular cuts.

If you are buying currency from ANY seller, you should determine before buying how that seller arrived at a particular grade, since an assigned grade directly relates to the value. Liberal grading tends to lead to over-inflated pricing, while a more conservative approach helps insure a collector is paying an honest price for a particular item. It is the same concept used with selling items outside of the currency market. If any item being sold is described accurately, to best of the sellers ability, surprises will be limited, and the buyer should be pleased with the purchase. One should ALWAYS demand to see both sides of a note before buying, to eliminate surprises.

We are very conservative graders of paper money, and tend to determine grades from a collector's point of view. We painstakingly describe every note as accurately as possible. We do not use what has been coined, a "market oriented grading" system. This means, that our evaluations will tend to be more cautious. We will not "bump up" a note's grade in order to make additional profit. We spend a great deal of time describing all the notes listed on this site, as well as ALWAYS showing both sides of every note listed, so there will be no surprises.

There is not a "one size fits all" concept with grading currency. Special consideration has to be given to Confederate currency. It was printed on a variety of different paper types. Some examples have thin paper, and other examples were printed on thick paper. Pinholes are quite common in all grades, including the CHOICE grades. Most pinholes were due directly to the quality of paper used when printing.

Also, one has to consider that these notes were hastily cut from sheets by hand in the 1860s, causing irregular cutting patterns into the borders and designs. It is quite common for a Confederate note to not have a complete border due to the cutting process. Notes with a full border line all the way around, tend to go for more money, especially when found in MINT condition.
Eye appeal is a major factor in determining value also. A note with fantastic eye appeal will command more interest than say, another same type example with duller features and details, even if the grades of both notes are the same.

Many dealers use terms to describe notes like "GEM", "MINT", "CRISP", etc. to divide notes into separate grades. While we feel that these terms can be helpful in adding to a description of a note, we do not feel that they should be given separate grading categories.

The following is a brief description of OUR grading terms that are used on this site, and may not necessarily correspond with other dealers or collectors:

• CHOICE UNCIRCULATED (CU): When a grade of CU is given to a note, this should mean that it is crisp and in flawless condition. There should be NO folds, creases, tears, bent corners, stains, or any other problems. It should have a complete border line visible. When a note is elevated to this grade, it should command a premium, as obtaining notes with this grade is the most desirable.

• UNCIRCULATED (UNC): An note graded UNC will hold most of the basic characteristics of a note graded in CU condition. It should be crisp with NO folds or any other major problems. The border line may be incomplete, and it may have an irregular cut. There may be one or two slight handling creases found on the note, but no major evidence of circulation.
• ABOUT UNCIRCULATED (AU): A note graded AU will be nice and crisp without any major problems. It may possibly have one or two minor creases, or bent corners. One fold is accepted.
• EXTREMELY FINE (XF): An XF note will still be crisp but show more obvious signs of light handling. It may have up to 3 folds with bent corners. Several light handling creases are also allowed.

• VERY FINE (VF): A VF note will still be attractive, but come with more evidence of circulation. It should still have some crispness remaining. There may be some dirt and edge wear. The fold lines should amount to no more than 8. Handling creases will be heavier, but it should still be easily set apart from the FINE grade.
• FINE (F): A FINE note is one that is still intact, with its overall appearance still being presentable. It will show moderate to heavy evidence of circulation with numerous folds, creases and wrinkling. The note may have considerable loss of its crispness, but not limp. The details of the note may be dull.
• VERY GOOD (VG): This grade is used for notes that have major flaws including excessive folding, heavy creases, and numerous edge tears. The note should still be well intact, but may be limp from heavy circulation.
• GOOD (G): This grade is used for notes that are normally severely worn, limp, and heading into poor condition. The appearance has diminished considerably. There are usually numerous edge tears, and there may be small pieces of the note missing.
• FAIR: This grade is used for notes in extremely poor condition. There may be large pieces of the note missing along with a host of other major problems. Collectors normally only buy these notes as "fillers" until a better example can be obtained.

It is getting much harder to find notes that have survived over 140 years in pristine condition. IN OUR OPINION, considering the age of CSA currency, and the printing process used, there should not be deductions made in grades, due to minor flaws such as a minor edge tear or stain. Let me emphasize, that flaws such as these should always be clearly stated when selling. However, they do not necessarily command a drop in grade unless they are excessive.

For example; a note that is in XF condition, but has a simple edge tear, does not drop a grade to VF. Instead this note maintains a grade of XF, with the flaw being noted. However, if that same note has a significant tear that exceeded well into the design of the note, consideration should be given as to lowering the grade.

Having notes graded by independent, third party grading companies, is becoming more popular these days. Some collectors like having an independent company grade their notes, along with having the note encapsulated. We are authorized dealers for PMG (PAPER MONEY GUARANTY), one of the leading, independent grading companies in the market today. They are very conservative in their grading, and have a very appealing encapsulation holder for notes. We would be happy to assist any collector with submitting notes to PMG for grading. Just contact us for more info, or visit PMG's website directly by clicking on this link: PMG

Here is PMG's grading scale:

MS 60-70 Uncirculated

AU 50, 53, 55, 58 About Uncirculated

XF 40, 45 Extremely Fine

VF 20, 25, 30, 35 Very Fine

F 12, 15 Fine

VG 8, 10 Very Good

G 4, 6 Good

AG 3 About Good

FR 2 Fair

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If you are looking for a current price guide which provides illustrations, along with much more details on how to buy and grade Confederate currency, then we would highly recommend obtaining Pierre Fricke's 2008 Field Edition entitled 'Collecting Confederate Paper Money'. In our opinion, it is an outstanding book that is easy to navigate thru, and we think you will find it to be the ONLY REFERENCE GUIDE YOU NEED when buying Confederate currency.

Pierre Fricke has become one of the leaders in the field of researching Confederate currency. The grading scale that Pierre put in his book, is very conservative, and you will find our grading correlates in many ways to his. Here is a summary of the extensive scale found in his book, and at his website www.csaquotes.com:

Fricke's Grading Scale

• Choice Uncirculated (CU). No folds, no problems. Complete and square margins/borders.
• Uncirculated (UNC). No folds. No problems. Border may be cut into the margin but not into the design. May be uneven excess border areas as well.
• About Uncirculated (AU). 1 cross-body fold. A corner fold or 2 may be tolerated as well.
• Extremely Fine (XF). 3 cross-body folds. A corner (even wide) fold or 2 may be tolerated.
• Very Fine (VF). No more than 8 cross-body folds. The note will have good body and crispness by definition. Circulation wrinkling counts as folds.
• Fine(F). The note is complete and the design and lettering clear and strong. The note retains some body.
• Very Good (VG). The note is complete but may have edge splits. The design is readable. No body remains. Limp.
• Good (G). The note is nearly complete (less than 3% may be missing). The design is well worn and parts are weak.
• About Good (AG). No more than 10% missing.