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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Burgess, post: 4766441, member: 105098&quot;]Ok, first and foremost, coins that are faked regularly should be slabbed to prove authenticity to prospective buyers, taking out the risk factor they will inevitably try to low ball you with. It will cost you the grading fees trying to sell it raw to make the sale in essence.&nbsp; The trade dollar is an example of that situation.</p><p><br /></p><p>Next, before submitting anything, go through and select your candidates with the 4 points kanga mentioned. And of course consider value. Once you have it down to the ones that bill maximize your resale value, critique the coin yourself and be harsh. Really evaluate it and don&#039;t do the &quot;it&#039;s not that bad&quot; while doing it or be optimistic, be harsh and pessimistic and likely you won&#039;t be disappointed when you get the grading results unless you get it as &quot;cleaned&quot; or &quot;counterfeit&quot; if you missed the signs. A lot of people simply don&#039;t grade their own coins as harshly as an objective 3rd party would and you need to realistically account for that in order to not be disappointed in the grades you get. a seller aims higher, a buyer aims lower, a 3rd party is supposed to give an opinion that got no skin in the game and that&#039;s how you should pre-grade your submissions, or at the least, pre grade it as a buyer, and as a seller, to get an idea of the range it shoudl fall into.</p><p><br /></p><p>As far as PCGS says of their grading:</p><p>GRADING</p><p>The coins are now ready for grading. Each order is distributed to graders based on their particular skill and expertise. While the graders are generally trained to handle coins from virtually all eras, they are assigned coins based on their strengths. The sheer number of graders assigned to each coin can also vary depending on the type of coin submitted. In all cases, at minimum, 3-4 graders are assigned to every coin for grading and verification.</p><p><br /></p><p>As each grader receives the order, they will enter the order number into the computer. This provides the contents of that order on the PCGS grading screen. Grader #1 will then enter his grade for the coin in question (and for each coin within the order until the order is completed) and close the order on his screen. Once Grader #1 has completed grading the order, the order is redistributed for Grader #2 to provide their grade and so forth. Each grader is not privy to the opinion of the other graders on any of the coins within that order.</p><p><br /></p><p>If their grades match in the computer, the coin would then go to a 3rd grader at the Grading Verification Stage. If the opinion of the first two graders does not match, that coin will be assigned to a 3rd grader whose opinion is required to “break the tie.” As a PCGS standard, the coin would still be assigned to yet a 4th grader for verification to make sure the grade is accurate and consistent.</p><p><br /></p><p>The actual grading process itself consists of a few steps. The first is determining whether the coin is authentic. With the values of some coins today, counterfeits are not uncommon.</p><p><br /></p><p>Once the coin has been determined to be authentic, it is then checked for possible alterations.</p><p><br /></p><p>Once the graders have determined the coin to be authentic and unaltered, the final step in the process is to assign a grade to the coin in question. Graders are now focusing on the characteristics of the coin such as the strength and quality of toning, strike, marks, luster, and overall eye-appeal. All these characteristics are taken into account when assigning a grade.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>If I remember correctly PCGS uses 5x and then 10x magnification for grading as well as naked eye as the first step. Heck, 10x is used to grade diamonds, anything more than that is too much. and as far as lighting The best bulbs to use for grading coins are 75- to 100-watt incandescent.</p><p><br /></p><p>there&#039;s an article here from the PCGS website that sheds some light on PCGS grading :</p><p><a href="https://www.pcgs.com/news/tools-of-a-professional-coin-grader#:~:text=This%20allows%20the%20light%20source,over%20long%20periods%20of%20time" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.pcgs.com/news/tools-of-a-professional-coin-grader#:~:text=This%20allows%20the%20light%20source,over%20long%20periods%20of%20time" rel="nofollow">https://www.pcgs.com/news/tools-of-a-professional-coin-grader#:~:text=This allows the light source,over long periods of time</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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