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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 3223920, member: 24314&quot;]ToughCOINS, posted: &quot;This&quot; (<b><span style="color: #000000">the grade</span></b>) does not determine value.&nbsp; The <b><span style="color: #000000">attributes of the coin </span></b>do that.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><span style="color: #b300b3">I agree!&nbsp; The <b>attributes of the coin </b>are what determines its grade = value.</span></i>&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;When newspapers, periodicals and mailings were the only available means of offering coins for sale, the grade was indispensable, but no longer.&nbsp; Photographs of coinage are almost ubiquitous today, and far more useful than numerical grades.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">Unfortunately, images can be enhanced and even if they are a perfect representation of a coin they may not be enough.</span></i>&nbsp; No one needs to buy a coin sight unseen today when there are so many imaged examples available for purchase.&nbsp; In fact, I don&#039;t think I know anyone who wants to buy a coin sight unseen.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><i><span style="color: #b300b3">Ok, so what?&nbsp; </span> </i> </p><p><br /></p><p><i><span style="color: #b300b3">With all due respect, this paragraph is very confusing:</span></i></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;There was a time when the value of a coin was almost universally determined by the adjectival grade, and later by the numerical grade. <span style="color: #b300b3"> <i>I&#039;m OK with that.</i></span>&nbsp; Now, valuing a coin has become so nuanced that the technical grade <i><span style="color: #b300b3">HOW THE HECK DID THIS (technical grade) GET INTO THE DISCUSSION</span> </i>is less important than the sum of the coin&#039;s attributes (<i><span style="color: #b300b3">ITS GRADE</span></i>), more easily conveyed by images than by a numerical grade.&nbsp; Unless one cannot grade, that is.&nbsp; It is for they which cannot grade that the numerical grade still determines value . . . or so they think.&nbsp; And that&#039;s where my argument holds water.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><span style="color: #b300b3">Whatever, I guess you are saying that now folks use an image to determine its NUMERIC GRADE and value. </span></i> </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Not all VF coins are worth the same amount of money.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">Obviously, not all coins of any grade are worth the same so...what is the point? </span></i>Do PCGS and NGC consciously boost the grade of an outstanding VF30 coin to XF40 to make sure it is appropriately priced?&nbsp; Do they suppress a homely VF25 to F15 for the same reason? <b> I can&#039;t say for sure</b>, <i><span style="color: #b300b3">So why speculate?&nbsp; Now, I&#039;m totally confused and your point of this entire post is...?</span></i> as I do not work for them, but I&#039;ve seen many examples which lead me to believe that is the case.&nbsp; Since those most dependent on the TPGs seem to blindly link a coin&#039;s value with its numerical grade, it makes sense to me that the TPGs would adjust the grade accordingly.&nbsp; Do I like that they do so (or appear to)?&nbsp; No, but I understand why.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Yeah, doing away with everything except authentication seemed nuts to me too, at first.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">That first gut feeling is usually a good one! </span></i>But I feel that dumping numerical grading by the TPGs would likely purge the investor community which drives so many issues to untenable levels and injects so much instability into the market.&nbsp; Seeing investors driven out of the market in one final exodus would be near term pain for long term gain.&nbsp; That&#039;s just one man&#039;s opinion, of course.&nbsp; I can&#039;t stand hearing repeated complaints of how expensive it has become to collect American coins, when the reason for it is plain for all to see.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">So, let&#039;s go back to selling ungraded genuine coins in the Wild West of the past.&nbsp; I&#039;ll bet you would get plenty of agreement on that one from all the wolves in waiting.</span></i>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>By the way, I forgot to include something in my thoughts last post.&nbsp; In addition to declaring the coin authentic, it should also be declared either natural or not.&nbsp; Then buyers can take comfort that their coins have not been cleaned, damaged or altered, and may then determine value for themselves, based purely on how they grade the coin.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">With all due respect, I don&#039;t think 95% of the dealers in the country know the value of a genuine raw coin!&nbsp; Heck, even a TPGS slab has been known to trade a few times at a show while increasing in value each time!&nbsp; </span></i></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;It was the abuses of unscrupulous dealers which gave birth to the TPG&#039;s in the first place.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">Actually, it had nothing to do with grading - it was the COUNTERFEITS.</span></i>&nbsp; <span style="color: #b300b3"><i>Grading came along much later and as you&#039;ve posted, there are still problems. </i></span>We, as knowledgeable collectors are fully capable of honing our grading skills, and re-calibrating as needed. <i><span style="color: #b300b3">I agree, but what about the ignorant who wish to enjoy the hobby? </span></i>If a declaration that a coin is both authentic and natural would suitably address the market need, I submit that a grade may not even be necessary on the holders.&quot;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;We&#039;ll see . . . so far I at least don&#039;t feel like I have been left behind.&quot;&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b300b3">Probably not but you are not the average collector who benifits from an opinion of grade.</span></i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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