Your first two paragraphs explain WHY the frequent grade inflation charge is somewhat “horse hockey”. When a grade didn’t EXIST it was hard to assign it to a coin. About a year ago I read something that said by VOLUME the most commonly given numeric grades are 69 and 64, two of the LAST to come into use.
Exactly, we really haven't been using the same scale the entire time I believe that. Saints and Morgans for the 64s
Granted, yes, Kurt, but as soon as you establish a grade there will be coins that grade on either the high or low side of that grade and in so doing, you could continue to sub-divide grades ad-infinitum.
Which also did and is happening. But that really just proves his point. We're using more detailed scales that allow for more precise grading that has also accounted for changed definitions of some of the grades.
While precision is a good thing, not everything can be quantified. Grading is still subjective. At a certain point, subdividing doesn't serve a purpose. It also helps to understand that the TPGs don't really grade coins, they assess their market value and assign a grade based on that value.
This part is WAYYYYYYYY overblown on forums. They do give grades, those grades include eye appeal and yes ugly coins can be held back a grade because they don't want that being a huge value jump but they aren't just pulling grades out of a hat
What I stated is fact. It is not opinion, and it is not overblown. Many people don't understand this fact, but it is nonetheless fact. That's the funny thing about facts, whether you like them or not, they're still true.
What I stated is a fact. It’s a fact they’re grading and the people that think they aren’t at all don’t understand what exactly they’re doing. If they were just assessing grades based on value every toned ASE would be a 70, Monster toned Morgan’s would be 69s/70s but guess what they aren’t
Technical grading hasn't been used by anyone for years and wasn't what I was talking about. You and others make it sound like they aren't grading they're just saying eh thats a 5k coins throw it in the slab. That isn't what they're doing at all. Eye appeal is part of the grade especially the better grades especially for PCGS. The market grading which impacts only a small percentage of coins is more likely to hold a coins grade back than boost it up. Most coins don't have a value high enough for them to worry about grade changing because they just don't feel it's attractive enough to be a 4 figure coin as an example. But no they aren't just applying grades based on value and countless coins can show that.
you're reading way more into my comments than I ever said. The TPGs market grade. That much you have characterized correctly, the rest, is not even close.
I don't understand why some coins have the same grade, but one has several more nicks and dings and bag marks even if the strike and luster are comparable. Particularly for Morgans, Peace dollars, and Franklin halves.
No I am well aware of how they grade and well aware of how overblown the "market grade" opinion of some is particularly people that never use the TPGs.
Location and severity of the mark(s) along with eye appeal/strike/luster if you're comparing the same dates and mint marks. If it's different dates and mint marks they get graded differently based on the year and mint and the standard quality for the year
There was a thread here a while ago which showed a couple of graded and slabbed AU-59 coins. This photo was not part of it. Search was almost fruitless.
Encapsulated by a defunct TPG Firm no doubt! I bet there were a lot more than a couple. Awesome quality control I can understand why they are defunct. Reed.
I think you are all forgetting that PCGS does have + grades. You can have an MS66+ or an MS65+. So what does that really mean. It’s an MS66.25 or .50 or .33333? So from MS60 to MS70 there are 21 steps. Assuming you can’t have an MS70+.