MS70

MS70 is the highest grade a business-strike coin can receive: MS stands for Mint State, and 70 is the top of the Sheldon scale. A coin grades MS70 when a professional grader finds no post-production imperfections on it under the magnification the grading services use for that determination.

Post-production means anything that happened after the coin left the press: contact marks from handling, hairlines, spots, or rim nicks. Minor flaws created during striking, such as small die imperfections, are treated differently from handling damage. Both NGC and PCGS use the same numeric scale, so an MS70 from either service means the same thing at the top of the range.

The proof equivalent is PF70, applied to a proof coin rather than a bullion strike.

In practice, MS70 shows up mostly on modern US Mint issues, particularly American Silver Eagles and American Gold Eagles. Those coins are struck to current standards and are often submitted for grading straight from mint packaging, so perfect examples are attainable. On older coins, MS70 is essentially unheard of, since a century of handling leaves marks.

A Texas Bullion Exchange specialist can advise whether submitting a coin for grading is worth doing.