NGC posted an article with photos of their grading contest coins. If you want to try and grade them from the pictures, scroll through the article slowly, as the grades for each coin are posted immediately below each picture. https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/8055/
Congrats on your performance Messy ! As I expected, I was pretty close on 6 of the coins, within 2 numbers. I was within 5 (hey, that's CLOSE for ME !!!) on 3 coins, and exactly nailed one coin (the VF 25). I was way off on 5 of the items (more than 5 numbers off). I said: 66...45....64...53...58.... 53....45...62....63.... 62...25 (exactly right)....67....66...63....and 64. Correct answers were: 68......8......66.....40......68....58.... NOT GENUINE.....63..... 65....67..... 25 ......NOT GENUINE ..... 68.....62....61. No idea how my score would be, but I do think that a better gauge of grading skills would have been multiple coins of the type a professional grader or serious U.S. coin collector would normally see or purchase: Saints, Morgans (they had these), SLQs, Franklins, Dimes, etc. A larger number of coins would also eliminate random variability. JMHO.
I think I would have done well. I tried to gtg without looking and did pretty good though I know the answers on a few. The California would have got me not knowing the series I would have called it details cleaned /altered surfaces. And the cc Morgan I caught the mm being added. Some of the modern proofs and the world stuff I had a harder time than the us. I knew the answer for the Massachusetts cent and I would have called it probably right or 65. I knew that one was real as I’ve owned quite a few and have one in my own collection and have even been fooled years ago by an electrotype of one
Weren't the coins shown via pictures on PC or smartphones ? They couldn't show the coins to all 100 people, right ?
Yes. I used either no magnification or pulled out my 10x loupe when I wanted to see something specific (e.g., inspect the added mint mark).
Everyone got to look at the actual coins in hand. Everyone had a 10-minute slot in which to grade the 15 coins. You had to either make an appointment or show up when there was an open slot with nobody there.
I got 29th place overall. I nailed the counterfeits. The only coin I significantly missed was the toned barber dime. I saw the cleaning under the toning and called it a problem coin. Even the article states it was wiped clean, but still graded a MS62.
Wow, now that I see pictures of the California, I am completely ashamed that I did not instantly call that counterfeit. (I'm one of the ones that called it cleaned). I don't really feel bad that I missed the added CC, although I would have caught it if I was taking my time and not on a time limit.
The California was a struck counterfeit. There were die lines and luster, and everything that would make you think it was real, save for the mushy, slightly "off" overall design. The 1889-CC had light yellow "stuff," like a stain, surrounding the mintmark. Also, the 9 digit was repunched at the top, and I didn't know of a genuine 89-CC with that attribute.
I went through in 5 min, dumping everything I had heard previously. I scored a 40. What I said: 68 (vs 68*) 10 (vs 8, they net graded down for marks on face) 64 (vs 66) 45 (vs 40, there is clearly luster present, so I disagree) 66 (vs 68, disagree based on imperfections on reverse) 45 (vs 58, there’s no luster apparent from the pics. Might have been different in hand) Fake (obvious Chinese struck counterfeit) 64 BN (vs 66 RB, might have looked better in hand) 64 (vs 65) 66 (vs 67) 20 (vs 25) Added MM (discoloration around the CC was key) 68 (vs 68) 64 (vs 62, might have looked worse in hand) 63 (vs 61, the marks must have been deeper than they appear in pics, or there were hairlines present)
Can anybody tell me what I would have scored ? I'm just curious. My grade is on the Left, NGC actual grade is Right: 66 vs. 68 45 vs. 8 64 vs. 66 53 vs. 40 58 vs. 68 53 vs. 58 45 vs. NOT GENUINE 62 vs. 63 63 vs. 65 62 vs. 67 25 vs. 25 67 vs. NOT GENUINE 66 vs. 68 63 vs. 62 64 vs. 61
So if I applied for a job at PCGS or NGC....I'd be making coffee, right ? Thanks Type ! Don't the grading services have people who specialize in certain coins ? Has to be alot easier to just concentrate on Saints and Morgans and maybe a few other popular U.S. coins....but then you throw in commemoratives, and medalions and foreign coins and ancients....makes your job tougher and you can't possibly be as knowledgeable on everything as you can when you specialize, right ? It'd be like me not concentrating in a few areas of the stock market but trying to be an expert on every sector.
They do, but grading is a skill that can generalize fairly well. Some areas require bonafide experts (buffalo nickels, bust halves, etc), though the other graders would be able to get pretty close as well.
I specialize in Morgans, and I was not exactly correct on the two that were genuine. I graded the 68 as a 67 and the 61 as a 62, whereas my job was to guess what NGC graded them.
That's close to me, MD. If you were only off by 1....my understanding is that when they have 3 graders looking at a coin they often will differ by 1 number. Heck, for all we know they may initially differ by 2 grades, maybe more. Wouldn't surprise me if you have one grader with 30 years of experience and another with only 5-10 years and they initially differ more than 2 veteran graders each with 30 years of experience might.
