Can anyone tell me the "Industry Standard" for grading coins? I know there are a lot of different ways to grade a coin, but if you were to look at the industry as a whole, what would you say the majority of reputable third party grading companys use as a standard?
There is no such thing as an industry standard. Every single grading company there is uses THEIR OWN set of standards. To really understand what you are buying when you buy a slabbed coin you need to understand and be familiar with ALL of the different standards. The best place to start for collectors trying to learn grading standards is to learn the ANA Grading Standards. Then you have to study and learn the standards used by each of the grading companies. NGC and PCGS both have published books of their standards. To my knowledge none of the other grading companies have. But you can become familiar with them by buying coins in their slabs and studying them.
