Grading Steel Cents

[Guest]

In an effort to become more proficient at grading, I've been going through 12K plus wheat cents year by year - starting with the 58's. I was getting more comfortable with the process - till I hit the 43 steel cents. It seems to me that most of the "rules" that apply to copper - toning, carbon spots, wear indicators [cheek, beard, hair and wheat stalks] do not apply well to zinc plated steel. The zinc seems to hide wear at times - and at other times accentuates the wear. I have searched the LCR threads for any
help with grading steel cents but, other than a helpful discussion on identifying replated cents, I didn't find any info. Perhaps I am making this more difficult than it really is - perhaps not. Any help from the veteran collectors out there in how to go about grading steel cents would be much appreciated!

Danoman

[BadThad]

Actually, the grading is the exact same as for any other wheat cent. However, I have found the steelies wear much slower when compared to copper. Nonetheless, the grading is the same as for copper. If you have any specific examples, I'd be happy to grade them for you.

[jallengomez]

I know that one thing that works for me in helping with grading of a particular year, is www.coins.ha.com. That's Heritages auction site. You can sign up for free, and then search past auctions by narrowing it down to year and denom. Their images are second to none, and you can really get a feel for what a TPG is giving a 65, 66, etc.

[Danoman]

Thanks to both BadThad and jallengomez for excellent answers and advice!! Once I focused on just grading factors and not the "differences" between steel and copper cents, my apprehensions subsided. Using images of graded steel cents was also a big help. And - thanks, BadThad, for the offer to help with grading - but the only thing I'm less experienced at than grading is photographing coins - but I'm working on that, too.
Thanks once again!!
Danoman