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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;NPCoin, post: 406248, member: 5629&quot;]That&#039;s one way of looking at it.&nbsp; But then consider this.&nbsp; There are different ways of grading coins.&nbsp; Some people will start with market aware aspects, while others may start with technical aspects.</p><p><br /></p><p>The idea of bumping up and down are market aware practices.&nbsp; Thus, if one utilizes market aspects first in determining their grade, then there will be likely more possibility for sporadic grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you grade with technical aspects first, then the grades may very well be more uniform.&nbsp; What I&#039;m talking about is this.&nbsp; First determine if a coin is circulated or uncirculated.</p><p><br /></p><p>If the coin is circulated, then start at a base grade, say G-4, and determine if the coin fits into that grade.&nbsp; If the coin is worse than G-4, obviously move down to basal state and stick on the grade.&nbsp; Otherwise, head up the scale to determine where the coin would technically lay.&nbsp; After you determine the technical grade, then utilize market aware aspects to determine your overall market grade for the coin...but do not ever go over AU-58 (ie, do not bump it into uncirculated if it is <b>NOT</b> uncirculated, for <b>ANY</b> reason).</p><p><br /></p><p>If the coin is uncirculated, then start at the top, MS-70.&nbsp; Move your way all the way to MS-60 to determine its technical grade.&nbsp; I personally do not believe that an uncirculated coin should be moved into a circulated grade due to damage, but should sit at MS-60 with damage described, as circulated and uncirculated describe the evidence of wear, not the condition of the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>I would take it as far as to say there are two entirely separate grading scales:&nbsp; 0 - 58, which describe the various conditions of circulated coins; and 60 - 70, which describe the various conditions of uncirculated coins.&nbsp; You cannot cross from one scale to the other.&nbsp; Of course, there are those who disagree completely, but that&#039;s their prerogative.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, once you determine the technical grade of the coin, market aware aspects are now considered...including strike.&nbsp; Now, let&#039;s say that you have five coins (same type, date, and mint mark), and for purposes of our example, we will say that all aspects are equal excepting strike.&nbsp; The technical grade we will use is MS-66.&nbsp; Now, let&#039;s assume that these coins are general found with a weak strike.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, let&#039;s remember that when determining strike, this is subject to the series, date, and mint in question.&nbsp; So, we would say that this particular specimen is &quot;typically&quot; weakly struck (ie. the average strike for this specimen is a weak strike).&nbsp; We will now refer to the grades in respect to market grading.&nbsp; An MS-64 would be considered to have &quot;at least&quot; an average strike.&nbsp; Thus, since the coins are all technically MS-66, the grade should not be dropped below MS-64 since, all things equal, the weak strike is considered to be &quot;typical&quot; or average for this specimen.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, generally, the coins should all market grade from MS-64 to MS-66.&nbsp; Let&#039;s assume that 2 coins are weakly struck, average for the specimen in question, and nothing exceptional or even above average in regards to the strike.&nbsp; These coins should receive an MS-64 grade.&nbsp; Now, let&#039;s say that two of the coins have weak strikes, but are stronger than the typical coins we find for this specimen.&nbsp; These coins should receive a grade of MS-65 or MS-66.&nbsp; The one coin that we see with a normal, sharp strike, however, we would consider to exceed the technical grade, and would place as an MS-67 or even MS-68, although a coin from another series, date, or mint may not exceed MS-66 under similar strike.</p><p><br /></p><p>That is because, even market grading, is subject to the series, date, and mint, and not subject to coins overall in general.&nbsp; Taking two coins that have generally the same strength of strike, but are two different denominations, two different date, and minted at two different mints, will not necessarily fall into the same grade ranges because of the way market grading takes into consideration of &quot;typicals&quot; within a specific specimen (type, date, mint).</p><p><br /></p><p>Pretty much, in market grading, I would put it that each type, date, and mint combination are a fruit of its own.&nbsp; And in grading, you must compare apples to apples, and oranges to oranges.&nbsp; In technical grading, however, a fruit is a fruit, and the same rules will generally apply to all, whether it&#039;s an apple, an orange, or a banana.&nbsp; And since strike is a market aware aspect, &quot;typical&quot; is not the same from type to type, date to date, or mint to mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, there are many who disagree with this, but that&#039;s the nature of grading.&nbsp; If it were not so, the TPGs would all be on the same wire, and there would be very little difference between them.&nbsp; And we would have a universal standard and system for grading.&nbsp; And threads like this would be much shorter, and people would have less opinion on the matter, because everything would be set in stone and all things would simply be objective fact.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just more cud to chew on.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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