Anyone who has much experience with coin photos realizes that photographic technique, especially lighting, is crucial to coin appearance and apparent grade. A MS65 can be made to look like an AU55 and vice versa. And this is without post-photographic manipulation, which can greatly extend the apparent grade of a coin ... up or down. I generally ignore GTG posts because photographic technique is such a big factor. To me, GTG means Goofy To Guess. I have about 5 grade "bins" for coins based on photos: MS/AU, AU/EF/VF, VF/F/G, G/P/damaged, damaged. Of course they overlap and have fuzzy edges as well. For some auction sites, like Heritage, I have enough experience with their photos and the actual coins that I can relate the photos to reality most of the time. For more expensive coins, Heritage posts two types of photos: whole slab and close-up. The difference between the two pairs of photos can be dramatic. Cal
Grading strongly depends on the quality of the images. -- Size of image. -- Focus -- Lighting. -- Background
Did you participate in @physics-fan3.14 's grading from Heritage photos experiment? We were getting pretty good at grading from Heritage photos precisely because of their reasonably realistic photos and consistent quality.
I gotta be honest with you: I've pretty much stopped going by the grades in most modern TPG holders; way inflated for my taste.
The very real and disheartening truth about this is that we coin lovers are going to have to get more and more used to judging the photography offered. I can’t see coin shows exploding back on the scene anytime soon. And for guys like me that need to fondle a coin, that’s a scary outlook. There’s only one guys on line photos that I trust 100%.
Allegiance Rare Coins. I love my local dealer. But the only place I trust on line 100% is Allegiance.
