How do you grade ?

Mike,

That makes perfect sense. I can't translate text into a grade either. I have to look at hundreds of coins in Heritage's archives in order to get a feel for how a particular series of a particular grade should look for each TPG. I don't really collect coins in circulated grades and trying to describe the difference of MS grades in text is impossible.

There are only a few series where I feel comfortable assigning an accurate grade. For the other series, I typically rely on the assigned TPG grade and compare the coin to other coins of the same year, MM, and grade by the same TPG to get an idea if the coin is accurately graded. When buying rainbow toned coins, I only really care if the coin is grossly overgraded, that is to say grossly market graded. In those cases, I will base my bid on the coin with the premium for the toning in relation to the actual grade. For example if the coin is market graded to an MS65, I will base my premium I am willing to pay on the MS64 price.

I think we all have developed our own unique way of grading and valuing our coins and prospective purchases.

Paul

 

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