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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ToughCOINS, post: 1767414, member: 20480&quot;]I&#039;m still a believer that standards have not changed.&nbsp; To this day, we all still see many submissions come back very conservatively graded.&nbsp; If we didn&#039;t, we might rightfully argue that the standards had dropped, but that just doesn&#039;t seem to be the case.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Just as often, we see coins we feel are overgraded, or maxed out.&nbsp; Generally, in those cases, collectors grudgling accuse the TPG&#039;s of playing favorites with high profile dealers. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I used to feel the same way, but no longer do.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As my submissions have grown in size and number, my observation is that I just as often get gifts as I get disappointed, with my expectations for grade being met about 80 percent of the time.&nbsp; I&#039;ve also observed similar results with most of the other submitting dealers of my size that I know.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If standards had loosened, we would expect to see many more gifts than disappointments in freshly graded packages, but that simply is not the case.</p><p>Therefore, I no longer support the notion that grading standards have changed, instead attributing the inconsistency to the following:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><ol> <li><b>A lack of frequent &quot;calibration&quot; of the graders against the standards. </b> How often do you think the graders actually look at the grading sets?&nbsp; Weekly?&nbsp; Monthly?&nbsp; Quarterly?&nbsp; Yeah, right . . . as fast as the coins are flying through there, do you think they are required to take the time to reacquaint themselves with the standards often enough . . . at any of the services?</li> <li><b>Staging by large submittors to get their &quot;liner&quot; coins bumped. </b> This pertains not only to coins that have a shot at the next grade, but to problem coins that could get into graded holders.&nbsp; I&#039;m positive this practice takes place, as I&#039;ve purposely staged submitted coins myself, believing they could go the next grade.&nbsp; I&#039;ve found that it works, but only if the coin to be bumped is immediately preceded by properly chosen coins.&nbsp; Unlike collectors and smaller dealers, very large submittors (not ToughCOINS . . . we&#039;re small fry as dealers go) have vast selections of coins from which to choose the coins to stage that submission, and their &quot;hit rate&quot; suggests that they employ staging very successfully.</li> </ol><p>If you still think grading standards have changed, ask yourself these questions:</p><ul> <li>Would the grading services really have the time and inclination go through all of the effort to change the coins in their grading sets? </li> <li>Would they then be able to manage a gradual transition from one grading standard to another over time, with little notice?</li> </ul><p>. . . I think not.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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