hi guys, i want to thank everybody who helped grade the coins i submitted previously i like your opinions but i think i might be grading to conservatively. i "learned" how to grade from the pcgs-official guide to coin grading and counterfeit detection as well as a.n.a grading standards and the original photograde .i still refer to them when i get a new coin. i know this is subjective,i've even seen slabbed coins from anacs,pcgs graded the same but one is better than the other. i was wondering which grading books do you own and refer to? how do you reach a grading decision? and how do you handle split grades obv/rev ,do you take an average,how do you record it in your records just wondering, thanks again
Yes it is subjective, but it is also to be expected for no two coins, even though they are graded the same, are equal. It is extremely common for one to look better or worse than the other. This is because there are several different criteria by which you grade a coin. One can have less marks but poorer luster. One can have better luster but a weaker strike. One can have great eye appeal and the other no eye appeal - the list of comparisons goes on. And that's why you can look at two coins correctly graded the same and have one look better than the other - it's normal.
Hi coinnut... coinnut wrote: "i like your opinions but i think i might be grading to conservatively. i "learned" how to grade from the pcgs-official guide to coin grading " Grading conservatively is a good thing. I did not see your original posts, so I am not commenting on those. What strikes me in this thread is your lack of common punctuation. This is not an AOL, Yahoo, or myspace chatroom. Any shorthand or using the small letter "i" when you should say "I " etc, or any other teenie shorthand pegs you as such. No offense, but in my opinion to be taken seriously, you must be able to write in a form that shows you are semi literate. We all have typos, but your chatroom style of lack of capital letters, teenie shorthand etc bothers me, and leads me to not take your posts as seriously as if you wrote in this chat with some semblance of literacy.... I write this not to be mean........ I just hate the teenie chatroom style of writing.... If anyone disagrees, I will take your opinion...
excuse me, bzcollektor i am sorry bzcollektor, if my lack of punctuation bothers you. when i am at work and punctuation matters,i pay more attention because its my job .coin collecting and posting on cointalk is fun to me, its a hobby and i prefer not to think of it as work. what you should be more concerned with is all the misspellings i see posted. in the age of spell check, there is no excuse for this. i assure you i am not using "teenie shorthand",i just like to relax when i am not at work. by the way thanks for the 35 year old flashback to my grade school grammar class.
my own personal opinion....i use ana grading book, photograde and pcgs guides for reference. i want both the obverse and reverse to be as attractive for the grade as possible. it may be ms 63 obverse and ms 66 reverse but its still an ms 63 coin to me. another variance is that contact marks are different for every coin..check the rim also for bumps and nicks. i pass on any coin i don't feel matches up to my own grading criteria as well as pass on any damaged coin.. it is my money and i feel i can wait for another opportunity as i am not racing to complete my series. i reference heritage auctions a lot due to the volume of coins they sell. plenty of photos and price references at your fingetips. look at the coin closely, take your time, decide what is attractive to you for the grade, as well as what you feel is a fair price for what you are buying. make sure that you enjoy your purchase and be patient finding it. good luck and enjoy your coins!!!...steve
bzcollektor, lighten up a little bit. It's one thing if something that somebody has written is completely illegible. It's another if their internet writing style is a little bit "lazier" than that of someone else. I have seen much, MUCH worse than the OP's writing. Kick back, have a beer and relax. -Respectfully Submitted. Sorry for stepping on your thread coinnut. As for your post, I would say that grading conservatively is probably the better of the two evils of grading conservatively vs. grading too loosely. Just keep on working at it. You'll get better and better all of the time!
I am far from an expert grader, but I have found pics are a lot harder to grade from than having the coin in hand. That may be another reason people tend to be conservative when grading coins online.
