I believe I made this suggestion in the past, but I think it needs to be addressed again. There are many threads here on CT that ask for opinions, particularly about grades. And there are plenty of opinions expressed. What seems to be lacking very often is how the answer was arrived at. Just saying MS-64 (or whatever) doesn't tell me how you got there. There HAD to be some thought process/mental check list you used to make the evaluation. I know it will CERTAINLY help me adjust my evaluation process if I know how others reached their conclusions. It is often said that one of the best learning processes is to talk with the people who know more than you. This is a GREAT forum for that.
kanga there are many times when I intentionally do not present my reasoning for my opinion on a grade, especially if it's early in the thread. I do this because I want see if others can see the same things I see - without me telling them. But when asked, I will always explain, later in the thread.
I'm with Doug. At times I will just lay out my reasoning if it is later on in the thread, and if I hadn't done that and somebody asked me why, I'd be glad to do so. At other times I just post a grade, no reasoning at all. I also do think that it would be great if everybody posted their reasoning, it would cause for more debate.
The quoted passage above is exactly why people should provide their reasons when giving an opinion. With open and honest debate comes enlightenment. If you are worried about influencing the opinions of others it seems to me that logic would dictate that you wait to until later in the thread to post. This discussion is similar to my pet peeve which is people who proclaim a coin AT without providing reasons why they think it is AT.
I make it a point to almost never give a grade using pictures. The reason is that looking a photo's or scans of a coin makes it very hard to give a grade. Many times someone will say I see this in the field or a lack of luster and the owner of the coin will say it doesn't look like that in hand. We have the people who say it's been cleaned. Many times I've seen people get defensive over opinions (1883 Morgan Proof?). People see little kings and letters that are not there imprints of old us coins. You can use photoshop to change the color of a coin. So I just don't grade coins by pictures it's way too hard and you could easily be 3-4 grades or more off. Ice
It's not a question of influencing anybody Paul. As I said, I want to see if they see what I see. And if I point things out, anybody can see it. But if they have to find it for themselves - then they learn.
Which is precisely how I've learned things from you. By you just posting a simple comment, I've learned to see things on my own, and it seems as though, recently you and I've been agreeing more and more. I've been learning, and therefore I'm more comfortable with posting my opinions first thing, rather than waiting for everybody else to have their shot at it, then just agree with one of their opinions.
