It's pet peeve time. Sorry but I have to vent. Nothing in my collecting years has become more irritating than the refusal of certain dealer to be honest in their advertizing. Specifically I am talking about terms. Such as P.Q. ( premium quality), C.U. ( choice uncirculated), and mixed grades, ie., Good/Very/Good, etc. which means obverse and reverse grades. Many of these dealers are heavy advertizers in Numismatic News and other like publications. And yes, I have tried them out. Often P.Q.- B.U. is usually a slider coming in at A.U. if you are lucky and many of these coins, especially coppers, are actually cleaned or buffed coins being sold at their real B.U. values. My advice now is to stay away! I now deal with only one dealer in Shawnee Mission, Ks. who has for me been the "Real Deal" dealer. He has no fancy big box ads or attitude, just properly graded coins. As for the mixed grade coins, I also stay away from these as in the end when you do finally sell your buyer is only going to pay for the lower of the two grades. The sheldon system is a gimmick also, intended only to hyper inflate coin values. I'm sure in the beginning it was probably an honest attempt to justify better grades properly but it has been abused so often that it is no longer any use to the average collector. The same goes for a CAC designation. If you don't trust your third party grader then what are you having your coins graded for unless you are trying to inflate the values of your own coins?! Thanks for listening.
Interesting - not sure I agree with all of it, but yes their are certain sellers with big ad's that use sliders for the grades. The best way to determine a grade on a coin is to see it in hand - not all of us get that opportunity.
Don't forget these eBay favorites: "About Fine" "A FINE Coin For Your Collection" (to dodge the policy that prohibits posting grades for uncertified coins)
You're right, of course. I'm not sure where I got the idea that non-numeric grades were also restricted.
PQ is a legitimate term used to describe a coin that is 'premium quality' for the grade. For example, an MS-64 Morgan Dollar that has superior eye appeal but does not quite meet the requirements for an MS-65. Of course, like any other term, some people abuse the term 'PQ'.
Of couse Hobo, you are correct. I'm sure many dealers use the term properly. I ordered 5 1907 I.H.C.'s from one of the big box dealers in P.Q.-B.U. only to recieve five buffed coins. Another dealer sold me a roll of 1964 Kennedy halfs useing the same term and half the roll were heavily water spotted. This was not a bank wrapped roll either. When I questioned this I was told this was normal (water spots) and they refused to take them back. Frankley, if I was a dealer I would have stated the condition so as to have avoided any misunderstandings. I'm not angry about all this as it's a lesson well learned and it happened at a time when prices were not through the roof. Thanks for the replys all.
