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Message:: [QUOTE="kaparthy, post: 65068, member: 57463"]A Von Mises Commemorative in a PCGS Holder ... Well, yes, finally, it does all come down to you.  I mean, there is not a single grading company with no mistakes in plastic.  It happens.  And the standards have changed over the years. The style of holder or the serial number can indicate whether the standards were stricter or looser at that moment.  So, really, that is why "Buy the coin, not the holder." is a maxim in numismatics. Also, it sounds to me as if you think of yourself as a conservative grader.  As a buyer, you will be.  As a seller, well, a conservative grader might not make all the money they can at this moment, but can build a solid reputation among buyers for that conservative grading. GD's words (from WINS): "So I would not say that the average collector cannot accurately grade coins - I would say that the vast majority of coin collectors cannot accurately grade coins." I have a certificate in grading U.S. coins from the ANA, for a class that I passed with High Honors.  Believe me, I know what I think a coin grades.  I would not want to bet on what a grading service would say -- and I nod to them.  Their graders see hundreds of coins a day, 300 days a year, year after year -- and not just your over cleaned Barber Halves.  Only the best coins go to grading companies in the first place. When they see a Fine or a Poor, it is a low mintage coin.  These must often be graded against extremely low populations.    So, all in all, I agree with you: based on my education and experience, I know what I grade a coin when I buy it and I do not care what someone else says.  Even so, as we say in Austrian economics: the market is always right.[/QUOTE]

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