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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 1075995, member: 15309&quot;]And what prompted the public to suddenly stop accepting over grading, all of a sudden?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Fine, I will expect that you not engage in anymore guess the grade threads and post an obligatory message to every thread that grading coins using photos is pointless.&nbsp; Now we know you won&#039;t do that.&nbsp; Would you like to admit why?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have long said that &quot;buy the coin not the holder&quot; should only apply to collectors who have the ability to grade coins with a level of proficiency that enables them to evaluate and question the grade assigned by the professional on a consistent basis.&nbsp; It occurs to me that I am pretty good a calling plays while watching NFL games on Sundays.&nbsp; It freaks other people out when I call the exact play run next by the offense.&nbsp; But how do you think I would do as an offensive coordinator in the NFL?&nbsp; Think about it for a minute, it is an apt analogy for most coin collectors.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>That is not even close to the truth.&nbsp; When it comes to Jefferson Nickels, I would rate my grading skills equal to that of the professional graders and I don&#039;t even need their opinion.&nbsp; For many other series, Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Mercury Dimes, SLQ&#039;s I have a very good knowledge of grading and when I don&#039;t agree with the assigned grade at first glance, I examine the coin closely to try and figure out the reason why the TPG assigned the grade they did.&nbsp; Most of the time, I can understand the reason for their grade even if it differs with my own opinion of grade.&nbsp; Lastly, for most copper and gold series, I am a newbie and completely at the mercy of the TPG&#039;s.&nbsp; My only grading experience in these series comes from general grading knowledge.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have been collecting coins since 1980.&nbsp; I used to take my allowance money and go to Kane&#039;s Coins in Ocean City, NJ and buy circulated Mercury Dimes when I was 8 years old.&nbsp; From my teenage years to my late 20&#039;s, I did not collect coins for two interrelated reasons, I was both married and poor.&nbsp; In fact, I purchased an MS66 SLQ in 1998 for $800 which contributed greatly to my divorce.&nbsp; In the late 90&#039;s, I started buying both rare coins and modern proof and mint sets.&nbsp; I joined PCGS and started sending in coins to be graded.&nbsp; It only took a few submissions for me to realize that I was way in over my head and had no idea how to grade coins.&nbsp; From that point on, I only purchased NGC &amp; PCGS graded coins and completely immersed myself in research.&nbsp; I read many grading books, looked at thousands of coins online, and bought hundreds of coins spanning my favorite series which were blast white Morgans, Mercury Dimes, and Walkers at the time.&nbsp; In 2001, I was searching the Atlanta Signature Sale looking for MS67 Mercury Dimes when I discovered this coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=267&amp;Lot_No=5765#Photo" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=267&amp;Lot_No=5765#Photo" rel="nofollow">http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=267&amp;Lot_No=5765#Photo</a></p><p><br /></p><p>My love for rainbow toned coins was born.&nbsp; I sold all of my blast white Morgans, Mercuries, and Walkers and started buying up every incredible rainbow toned coin I could afford from every series.&nbsp; I somehow wrangled this shotgun toning collection into a rainbow toned type set and joined the NGC registry.&nbsp; In 2008, I joined some coin forums and ran into an Appalachian toned Jefferson Nickel on Anaconda&#039;s site.&nbsp; My love for Jefferson Nickels was born.&nbsp; You have seen my involvement on this forum over the last few years.&nbsp; My dedication to the hobby was just as intense and time consuming prior to 2008, but it was much more of a solitary activity for me.&nbsp; I still spent hours every week searching all of the online sites (Heritage, E-Bay, and retail sites) for possible additions to my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have explained my view on the subject many times over the last few days.&nbsp; You are so convinced of your own infallibility, that you can&#039;t bring yourself to even consider that what you think you may know to be a fact could very well be wrong.&nbsp; I believe gradeflation to be a very real problem in numismatics, but I simply don&#039;t believe that the TPG&#039;s intentionally change their grading standards in order to boost submissions.&nbsp; I don&#039;t think you have an ulterior motive, but I do think that you and others who believe what you believe are wrong.</p><p><br /></p><p>And these experts that you speak of don&#039;t share your opinion.&nbsp; Here is quote from Q. David Bowers on the subject from THE EXPERT&#039;S GUIDE TO COLLECTING &amp; INVESTING IN RARE COINS.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Bowers obviously believes that the standards have relaxed over time, but nowhere does he state that it was a result of an intentional shift designed to boos submissions.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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