Gradeflation or so I have been told.

I went to the coin show two months ago. Sold some coins to a dealer. AFTERWARDS, I Had 4 NTC slabs left. He offered $150 for the slabs. I said no. I went to another guy I usually Deal with. The second guy graded all 4, and I walked away from the second guy's table, with $150, and 3 of my slabs left. The 3 remaining slabs were AU, but the 4th slab that I almost sold to the first guy for an AU price, the second guy gave me MS62 money. THis is why I contradict the "DONT by the slab" argument. If its a PCGS slab, they all trust the PCGS grade. DONT entirely say slabs are crap. PCGS slabs you should buy.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Hi Mike!

See? we can agree! Yes, I consider myself a conservative grader. My opinion is what matters when I buy, whether online, at a show, or at someones shop. I have bought and sold face to face. Our mutual opinion in those circumstances, is what made those transactions successful.

Usually, I was at a disadvantage. It is the state of the "expert" dealer, vs. the "amatuer" such as myself. One of the major laments of we amatuers over the years, is, when we buy a raw coin from dealer x, that dealer x says the coin is MS65. We agree, mostly because we want that coin. You take that same coin to 5 other dealers, with the implication that you want to sell it, BOOM, no one on the planet will say it is even an MS62.

I have educated myself on grading. I can grade any normal US coin, with the exception of the early coppers, and early gold. I have never seen any examples, so I cannot grade them. I consider myself very good with MS Morgans. Pretty good with most popular US series circulated grades.

So where does that leave us with gradeflation. It all depends pretty much on dollars. Does your circulated Walking Liberty set, or your Merc or Wash quarter set double in value, just because a book says what used to be a VF is now an XF? Of course not.

We are talking about expensive circulated keydates, older typecoins, and of course, the degree of MS in most series. I am a Morgan fan. The difference in market price for a true MS64 1878 any variety Morgan, and a true MS65 is about $1500. One grade higher is big bucks. hmmmmmm........

 

It's extremely interesting to a casual amateur like me to be able to read this sort of ongoing debate between people in the hobby [business?] with the impressive credentials of the folks here. Please keep up the good work and thanks for being here.

And just to throw in an amateur opinion from the peanut gallery, I'd rather own four or five 1878 Morgans in MS64 than one MS65, but that's just me. The price difference just seems too extreme considering the grade difference and difference of opinions among professional graders. It scares off people like me from making the big purchases.

It seems like grading is only half way between the art it used to be and the science that it must and will become at some point in the future.

 

You and me both cloud99!!!!!!
I think the same way.
no credentials................
I `ll take a bunch of MS64 to one so-called MS65. And yes I can grade........

 

BTW Cloud....
Don`t cut yourself short......
You are one of the ones who`s opinion I respect.........

 

Apparantly when people fail to meet the standard -- then change the standard. Sort of like grading students on the curve some years ago. That produced college graduates that couldn't read or write. Now we will produce "fine" coins from "very good" coins because a lot of people overgrade in order to make more money. The logical end to this practice is to eventually make those "very good" graded coins into XF/AU coins!!!!

 

Great discossion and very educational.

It is just a matter of opinion, but I agree with you Cloudsweeper99.

Thanks to all for their comments on this thread.

 

Thank you for the kind comments, but keep in mind that I don't have anywhere near the level of expertise that most people here possess. However, I try to be objective and look for low-risk ways to collect things that I like. I never try to get the best quality, only bargains -- things that appear underpriced for the level of quality and intrinsic value being offered. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't know how else to approach the hobby without devoting a lot more time to it than I have available.

 

I read in Coin Values last night that a 1887 Morgan dollar graded MS-66 sold for $12,650 and the Coin Values price is $450. The high price is attributed to exceptional toning which I believe would also be a market factor. The sale price for this coin is slightly more than 28X Coin Values price. And the coin was MS66 or 6 points over Unc. So, am I correct in assuming that under the grade=price theory the proper grade for this coin should really be: 60+(6x28)= MS-228?

 

Eventually one of two things will happen.

First, somebody will figure out a way to implement a common grading standard that will be accepted throughout the industry. I don't know how this will be accomplished, but the person will probably become a legend in the business if they figure out how to get all of the TPGs and major dealers into one consistent system.

Second, with the advances in optics, programming, and intelligent systems, somebody will invent a 'grading machine' that will grade coins more accurately than 99% of collectors and TPGs, and be perfectly consistent from coin to coin and year to year. I noticed that many optometrists now utilize a machine that can diagnose prescriptions for eyeglasses simply by scanning the eye. This isn't far from what would be required to grade coins I'll bet.

 

Maybe the key phrase is "quite a few years ago." Things are advancing so rapidly that the eventual invention of a machine to do this seems almost a certainty to me. Not now perhaps, but someday.

 

I have a feeling that I still have a coin or two that would grade somewhere around G-4