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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 1882478, member: 15309&quot;]You see it that way because you only see black and white and are incapable of seeing all of the shades of grey in between.&nbsp; It really doesn&#039;t matter if the TPGs gained control of the grading market by through forced acquiescence or genuine support, the fact is that NGC &amp; PCGS control the grading arena.&nbsp; This explains why I consider your method of grading the &quot;lunatic fringe.&quot;&nbsp; Even if a collector wanted to adopt your grading methods, they would not be able to do so unless they restricted themselves to the raw coin market.&nbsp; And even then, they would limit themselves to dealing with the unknowledgeable.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have challenged you in the past to provide evidence that the TPGs have consciously or intentionally loosened their grading standards over the years.&nbsp; You have never been able to provide a smidgeon of evidence that this is true.&nbsp; Yet, the leaders of the numismatic community have discussed gradeflation and the apparent loosening of standards over the years and provided rational explanations.&nbsp; Here is a quote from Mark Salzberg on the subject:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=1335" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=1335" rel="nofollow">An Interview With Mark Salzberg</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>MR: In the next rip-roaring bull market, would you be under pressure to tighten grading?</b></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">MS: I’ll tell you this I’m losing business on a regular basis on generic gold coins because<b> I refuse to change our standards.</b> We have competition which is so liberal on these coins —the $5 to $20 pieces— it is absurd, it’s so ridiculous. Everyone knows it. It’s at least a point and a half in many areas and has affected the marketplace. Premiums have come down on generic gold and they continue to stay down. <b>We’ve stuck to our standard and won’t deviate, bull or bear market.</b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">Now you can claim that his answer is disingenuous because he is protecting his company and their profits.&nbsp; But I for one will believe a man with his numismatic resume over your amateur opinion any day of the week.&nbsp; You claim that you were once in the middle group but that changed about 10 years ago.&nbsp; The fact is that the grading standards that you employ on this forum are not consistent with the TPG grades prior to 2004 either.&nbsp; Your standards are still punitively conservative.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">Did the TPGs make adjustments to their grading standards?&nbsp; They sure did.&nbsp; They made more exceptions for weak strikes and roll friction.&nbsp; They allowed grade bumps for toned coins.&nbsp; But these exceptions that you call &quot;loosening&quot; Salzberg refers to as a &quot;learning curve.&quot;&nbsp; What that means is he is admitting that their original opinions of some coins were overly conservative.&nbsp; In other words, he is admitting that they were wrong.&nbsp; So while I everyone else grows and learns, you are stuck in the 3rd grade with the ability to see only black and white.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">There are many people who believe that the TPGs have loosened their standards since the early days.&nbsp; But even those collectors don&#039;t believe that grading standards have been loosening for the last 10 years.&nbsp; It is widely accepted that if anything, the TPGs actually became more conservative in their grading after the inception of the CAC and &quot;+&quot; grading in 2008.&nbsp; I have given my opinion on gradeflation many times over the years and will not reiterate it again.&nbsp; That said, my chosen series is Jefferson Nickels.&nbsp; Some of the most egregiously overgraded Jefferson Nickels that I have encountered reside in NGC old fatty slabs from the 90&#039;s.&nbsp; I see no discernable difference in the numerical grading of Jefferson Nickels by either TPG over the last 25 years. </span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">I don&#039;t expect to change your opinion on the subject as we have been having this same debate for almost 5 years.&nbsp; But I would like to know about your supporters.&nbsp; All of those collectors and dealers who you claim agree with you and employ similar grading standards as you.&nbsp; Where are they?&nbsp; Do they not have fingers?&nbsp; Are they unable to share their support on a public forum?&nbsp; In fact, the only people I have ever encountered who believed that your grading standards are right are those that you have indoctrinated on this very forum.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"></span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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