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Grading/Quality
Important: Grading of the Banknotes is a matter of form and can be subjective in some cases. We always try to evaluate our banknotes correctly according to international standards. In doubt we prefer to grade one level lower to avoid misunderstandings.
Should you disagree with our evaluation (or should you find a defect that we overlooked), please contact us. We can generally solve the problem immediately - e.g. return, refund, discount, voucher, etc.)
| Gradings | ||
| Standard Catalog of World Paper Money | Rosenberg | Description |
|---|---|---|
| UNC(uncirculated) | I (kassenfrisch) | A perfectly preserved note without any defects. |
| AU(about uncirculated) | I-(fast kassenfrisch) | A virtually perfect note, with some minor handling. |
| XF(extremely fine) | II(vorzüglich) | A very attractive note, with light handling. |
| VF(very fine) | III(sehr schön) | An attractive note, but with more evidence of handling and wear. May have several folds both vertically and horizontally. Paper may have minimal dirt, or possible colour smudging. Paper itself is still relatively crisp and floppy. There are no tears into the border area, although the edges do show slight wear. Corners also show wear but not full rounding. |
| F(fine) | III-/IV+ (schön) | A note which shows considerable circulation, with many folds, creases and wrinkling. Paper is not excessively dirty but may have some softness. Edges may show much handling, with minor tears in the border area. Tears may not extend into the design. There will be no center hole because of excessive folding. Colours are clear but not very bright. A staple hole or two would not be considered unusual wear in a Fine F note. Overall appearance is still on the desirable side. |
| VG(very good) | IV(sehr gut) | A well used note, abused but still intact. Corners may have much wear and rounding, tiny nicks, tears may extend into the design, some discoloration may be present, staining may have occurred, and a small hole may sometimes be seen at center from excessive folding. Staple holes and pinholes are usually present, and the note itself is quite limp but NO pieces of the note can be missing. A note in VG condition may still have an overall not unattractive appearance. |
| G(good) | V(gut) | A well worn and heavily used note. Normal damage from prolonged circulation will include strong multiple folds and creases, stains, pinholes and/or staple holes, dirt, discoloration, edge tears, center hole, rounded corners and an overall unattractive appearance. No large pieces of the note may be missing. Graffiti is commonly seen on notes in G condition. |
| Fair(fair) | VI(gering erhalten) | A totally limp, dirty and very well used note. Larger pieces may be half torn off or missing besides the defects mentioned under the Good category. Tears will be larger, obscured portions of the note will be bigger. |
| P(poor) | VII(schlecht) | A "rag" with severe damage because of wear, staining, pieces missing, graffiti, larger holes. May have tape holding pieces of the note together. Trimming may have taken place to remove rough edges. A Poor note is desirable only as a "filler" or when such a note is the only one known of that particular issue. |
Attention Emergency Money (Notgeld, Serienscheine, etc.): In the case of cheap series and emergency banknotes (Notgeld, Serienscheine, etc.), we do not take as much care as usual in determining the preservation between AU and UNC because of the extremely low value. It would be logistically impossible for us to check these bills as strictly as our world banknotes or even slightly more expensive emergency banknotes. This means that Notgeld are usually in AU/UNC condition. Worse than AU we put on XF or VF. When ordering emergency money, please keep in mind that a bill marked as UNC may sometimes have very slight defects. Most collectors of emergency money do not place the same demands on these bills as they do on worldbanknotes. Please order these notes from us only if you are able to cope with minor defects. If you are still not satisfied with a delivery, we will gladly take the bills back and return the purchase price. It might be rather difficult to exchange the bills for better ones.
