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Agree somewhat........but when I am purchasing coins, 'sight unseen', over the internet.....I would definately accept the grade handed down from ICG, PCGS, or NGC (not terribly fond of Anacs), long before I would accept that opinion from a so-called knowledgable dealer. Afterall, grades are offered by opinion of the grader and that individual may not follow the standards that say PCGS or ICG follows (hence how accugrade got into trouble). They both list their grades and the standards/characteristics needed to achieve that grade, so you have an idea of what you are getting. Plus I deal with their coins on a regular basis so I am familiar with what type of coin per grade I am receiving. Now a dealer's opinion will vary widely from dealer to dealer and quite often you would lose money purchasing these coins over the net. Case in point, look at the dealer graded coins at the auction sites ebay and yahoo. They sell for no where near the amount of the top 3 grading services coins. Others such as Teletrade will not even auction a coin unless it is graded by one of their approved graders. In person, an experience person can somewhat judge for themselves with a microscope in hand.......but not from scans on the internet. And sure some people offer a money back guarentee.......but do you trust that? I don't. If a third party escrow service was used....maybe.....but even then, only at a substantially discounted price.
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