I'm sure some have tried to bribe, but save for the one example above, I don't believe that it happens. As collectors, we rely on them to be at least forthright. We don't always agree with their grades, artificial/natural toning, variety attribution, full head, full bands... And the list goes on and on, but we at least trust them. In many ways they help set the market and to disturb that would be devastating to the hobby.
No, it wasn't directed at you. I haven't kept track of the actual crybabies who made such implications, but the accusations of "shady tactics" have almost always been a complaint by someone who received poor grades. Chris
...my self-made-up conpiricy when I first started submitting to TPG's 5 years ago was...wait for it....that there might be graders who purposely undergrade certain coins and then wait for them to hit the market and then buy them up and then grade them correctly and sell them for a huge rip...LOL...I think I drank a little too much back then...now I know how to grade my coins and there are very little surprises going forward when that happens. Good Luck to you'se and a NYC cop who lived to make retirement automatically has my respect regardless
Thanks I told my buddies I was being beat up by a bunch of coin collectors I'm packing at next show....I didn't even think of your scenario What Pct were you in lol
...I was never a police officer but I know city streets pretty well and I know how hard the concrete in NYC is. I just put 2+2 together and it equaled Respect
You think we're bad, you should talk to some model train guys or stamp collectors. Bunch of savages I tell ya.
Shoot.......I took the city test back as a lad........got accepted..........went to college.........sometimes I feel I missed an opportunity, but all worked out well.
I went to college then went on....best move I ever made.....But looking back I was young dumb and stupid but grew up fast
Very much so. They have made it much safer and easier for new collectors to enter the hobby and for older collectors to branch out into new collecting areas. That safety net is one of the big reasons why I believe collecting has shifted more to type set/buy what you want instead of set building
Its a shame Ive been lurking and Ive seen the ducks...they wont have an easy mark with me...but I'm never looking for one. Had too many real life battles..I know its just a few who put themselves on the high horse..for this hobby to survive you need newbies
We're really just a bunch of collectors from all walks of life and the thought of grading service not being honest would always get a rise. Don't take it personally, it's just the nature of the beast. Speaking of new members, please go back and edit the d reference out of your post. We encourage young collectors here and keep our language as clean as possible.
There is no need for bribes in the coin grading business. The preferential treatment, grade inflation, etc is built into the process. It is a form of institutional graft. Every company is guilty of this in some form or another. It is the primary reason that companies are formed, ie to shield their principals from personal liability for their illegal activites. Ask any honest person and you will get the same answer.
Corruption exists at every level of every business or opportunity where there is money to be made or stolen. Criminals come in all shapes and sizes, just like all people. Remember, the stupider they are, the more likely they get caught. The really smart ones get away with it.
The problem I see with the idea of bribery in the TPG is who are you going to bribe and how many of them? Bribing the package openers/data entry people isn't really going to help you, Likewise for the encapsulaters or shipping people. Trying to bribe the owners/operators probably isn't going to get you anywhere because they are already probably getting high six or low seven figure salaries and your bribe is basically asking them to put that at risk. That would need a really good bribe, probably in the high seven to mid eight figure range. That kind of bribe money is going to be hard to recoup from getting better grades. Also how would the owner/operators interfere in the grading without making it obvious? Bribing a grader might work, still going to have to be a good size bribe. But the problem is it does no good if they don't see your coins. So we have to bribe a second person and that's the guy who directs the submissions to the individual graders. Now he is going to have to know what you are sending in so he can watch for it, and he is going to have to know which grader you have bribed so he can direct your submission to him. And he is either going to have to have some way of telling the grader this is a "special" submission, or the grader is going to have to know specifically what is coming in so he can recognize it. Then there is one more person you are going to have to bribe, and that's the finalizer. This is going to have to be another good sized bribe. He's not going to risk a six figure salary for a four or five figure bribe. And of course the submission router is going to have to make sure those "special" submissions get routed to the right finalizer. I just don't see it happening. Too shaky, too many people knowing each other, bribes would have to be too high and chances of recovering the bribes from inflated grades too unlikely. And if you didn't have all three of those people under you control, say just one or two the scheme would fall apart too fast to make it worthwhile.
Now that's an answer. I agree the more people that r involved the less likely...its good they have those measures
Regardless of an institutions perceived integrity, or desire to maintain it, there is always the possibility for corruption. Even judges and (especially?) politicians? The organization may be founded and operated on the highest standards, and be harmed by an individual. It seems quite possible that an individual grader would be tempted. For that grader, an opportunity to enhance his income, tax free. For the briber? Well, a point or two higher grade can make thousands of dollars of difference in price. And being so fungible, unless the crooked grader signs a written confession, its practically no chance they would ever be convicted, although maybe fired.
