  We introduce a procedure based on quantum expectation values of measurement
observables to characterize quantum coherence. Our measure allows one to
quantify coherence without having to perform tomography of the quantum state,
and can be directly calculated from measurement expectation values. This
definition of coherence allows the decomposition into contributions
corresponding to the non-classical correlations between the subsystems and
localized on each subsystem. The method can also be applied to cases where the
full set of measurement operators is unavailable. An estimator using the
truncated measurement operators can be used to obtain lower bound to the
genuine value of coherence. We illustrate the method for several bipartite
systems, and show the singular behavior of the coherence measure in a spin-1
chain, characteristic of a quantum phase transition.
