condition census

OBS: Term introduced by Dr. William H. Sheldon to denote the finest specimen and average condition of the five next-finest known of a given variety of U.S. cents. The condition census is usually expressed as two numbers separated by a hyphen. The number to the left of the hyphen indicates the condition of the most perfect known specimen of the coin being described. The right-hand number registers the average condition of the five next-finest specimens known, or of the less-than-five specimens known. The condition census is customarily restricted to American issues.