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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;NPCoin, post: 404128, member: 5629&quot;]Although I disagree with the grades that I have seen on the vast majority of TPG slabs, I would not say that they are &quot;wrong&quot;.&nbsp; This is a point on which I believe I tend to skew from a majority of the numismatic community.&nbsp; The point is:&nbsp; grading is subjective.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are too many factors involved that <b>will</b> make a coin grade differently from time to time, even utilizing the same standard.&nbsp; Especially when you come to the point of a TPG.&nbsp; Take PCGS, for example.&nbsp; If all goes well, your coin will receive a consensus, the best of three, on the grade.&nbsp; So the first time you send the coin in, the graders grade it:&nbsp; 65, 65, 66.&nbsp; So you get your MS65 coin back.&nbsp; You crack it out, and send it back again.&nbsp; The consensus is 65, 66, 66.&nbsp; So it comes back as MS66.</p><p><br /></p><p>How is this wrong?&nbsp; Grading <b>is</b> subjective!&nbsp; You very well may have gotten grader #1, #2, and #3 the first time; but, grader #1, #5, and #3 the second time.&nbsp; Does this mean that a large percent of graders at the TPG are &quot;wrong&quot; all the time?&nbsp; Because their grade was not amongst the higher on the consensus?&nbsp; Or does it mean something else?&nbsp; Like bias??&nbsp; Yes!&nbsp; Bias <b>is</b> a part of grading.&nbsp; What does everyone think &quot;eye appeal&quot; is?</p><p><br /></p><p>I personally believe that this issue is easier to understand than the issue of how a weakly struck coin can be considered higher mint state (66, 67, etc.) when technically, those grades are reserved for above average strike.&nbsp; Just because the market will accept it is no excuse.&nbsp; But, that also does not mean the grades are wrong, either.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not only that, but, the standard which is utilized is also important.&nbsp; Not everybody uses the same standard.&nbsp; So identifying what standard a person is utilizing is also important in understanding how and why a coin received a certain grade.&nbsp; One person&#039;s MS66 under Standard A could be another person&#039;s MS64 under Standard B.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Do you blame them?&nbsp; When someone asks &quot;which TPG should I send this to?&quot;&nbsp; you get a consensus to &quot;send it to PCGS, you&#039;ll get more money for it when you sell it.&quot;&nbsp; And that is a bigger problem than the simple blind faith.&nbsp; PCGS evangelists all have one truth:&nbsp; &quot;PCGS means More Money&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>Very rarely do you really see somebody advise not to send a coin to a TPG.&nbsp; In fact, even some of those who do not &quot;deal with slabs&quot; will concede that sending the coin to a TPG is a &quot;good idea&quot; because they will authenticate it for them.&nbsp; Then when the question comes up of who to send it to...&quot;PCGS because you&#039;ll get more money for it when you sell it.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the biggest problem of them all, in my opinion.&nbsp; So it is no wonder that people blindly follow PCGS as the scripture of the numismatic world.</p><p><br /></p><p>I do not send my coins to TPGs and I wouldn&#039;t unless I actually desire to sell the coin for an &quot;insane profit&quot; for whatever reason, or because a client &quot;demands&quot; it.&nbsp; I see TPGs as simply a waste of money, a carnie yeller&#039;s hype, and bordering on the somewhat unethical.&nbsp; What I would like to see is simply a good authentication service that charges a &quot;proper&quot; fee for the service with the option of encasing the &quot;authenticated&quot; coin without a grade into their $.10 piece of plastic and $.15 piece of inert insert and label.</p><p><br /></p><p>But, where there is money to be made...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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