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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 3399668, member: 101855&quot;]What happens is what the collectors “grade-flation.” All of the standards get watered down from the Mint State to the circulated grades over time. Sometimes the grading companies tighten up their standards, but it doesn’t last. The over graded coins stay in numismatic circulation, but the conservatively graded pieces are cracked out and re-submitted.</p><p><br /></p><p>There was a time when I liked most of the AU-50 graded coins. Now I really don’t care for most them because they are really only EF and sometimes have eye appeal issues. For the Classic Head gold coins, most AU-50 pieces don’t work for me and all of the EF graded coins are a disappointment. When I was young collector in the 1960s and ‘70s, the EF grade coins from the honest, top drawer dealers were always nice pieces. Of course the bad dealers also did their thing, which why third party grading came to be.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is an example of what has happened over the past few years. This is an 1834, Crosslet 4, Classic Head $5 gold piece. It is listed in “The Red Book.” This is a very scarce coin with perhaps 125 surviving examples in all grades. These coins are rare in AU and better, and it is possible to trace some them on the auction house sites.</p><p><br /></p><p>At one time this coin was in an AU-58 holder. Today it is in an MS-61 holder and is clearly over graded. I own it because the collector in me really wanted an example that would not be in a way lower grade than the rest of my set. I way over paid for it, but it goes well with my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>I checked with some of the advanced collectors and learned that the Mint State population numbers on the PCGS site are overstated because the same coins have been submitted for grading multiple times. Therefore, it’s even harder to get this coin is high grade than the population reports suggest.</p><p><br /></p><p>1834 Crosslet 4 Classic Head $5 gold</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]902765[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]902768[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are close-up of both of the 1834 date varieties:</p><p><br /></p><p>The Crosslet 4</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]902770[/ATTACH]&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The Plain 4</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]902772[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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