Graded Notes

Third-party graded notes

Grading services examine a note independently, assign it a numeric grade on a standard scale, and seal it in a tamper-evident holder with a label recording the attribution and grade. Two things come with that: an opinion on condition from outside the transaction, and an assurance that the note has not been swapped since.

Grades are usually accompanied by qualifiers noting anything that affected the assessment, and those qualifiers are as informative as the number itself.

Reading a graded holder

• The numeric grade — higher numbers indicate better preserved notes.
• Qualifiers — remarks recording specific condition issues.
• The attribution — country, denomination, series and date on the label.
• Holder condition — a damaged holder is worth raising before purchase.