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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Paul M., post: 2601040, member: 73165&quot;]We call those &quot;varieties&quot; around here. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie7" alt=":p" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; Get with the program! (j/k)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I hate to revive this aspect of it, but one thing everyone has missed is that (IIRC, I can&#039;t find my book at the moment), PCGS standards say that a 70 is (paraphrasing) &quot;as struck, <i>with full strike</i>&quot;.&nbsp; That would clearly mean that a flawed die <i>could</i> be capable of striking a 70, but that not every coin struck by a pristine, brand new die would be a 70, either.</p><p><br /></p><p>Under this interpretation, it&#039;s no surprise that out of the billions of US coins struck over the years, some of which have been specially handled at the mint (proofs and NCLT), that a relative few got a full strike and remained as struck by the time we collectors got our grubby paws on them.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s another point to remember, especially when looking at images.&nbsp; Many of the coin images you see on here or other sites are the equivalent of <i>vastly</i> more than 5x magnification.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We already have half grades, with the + designation.&nbsp; I think those are kind of pointless, too.&nbsp; When we get to a point where coins can be cracked out, resubmitted to the same service, and come back with the same grade 10/10 times, then I&#039;ll be all for decimal or + grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is, of course, more of a problem with MS coins than circulated coins, but I&#039;m sure we&#039;ve all seen a coin that really, truly falls in between, say, AU55 and 58.</p><p><br /></p><p>With MS coins, I&#039;m sure what a lot of people are doing is calibrating &quot;this is what MS63 looks like,&quot; vs &quot;this is what MS65 looks like,&quot; vs &quot;this is what MS67 looks like,&quot; and interpolating the rest.</p><p><br /></p><p>And there, finally, is the real problem with the 70 grade: it&#039;s completely binary.&nbsp; And, it&#039;s not a technical issue.&nbsp; Make your definition, apply it to every coin that comes in, consistently, and, eventually some will make the 70 grade.&nbsp; The problem is the inconsistency of humans as I mentioned previously.&nbsp; And, <i>that</i> is why we have this argument. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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