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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Miko W, post: 2016428, member: 68055&quot;]Was there a time when numeric designations were not used? When I see those numeric stratifications within the grade, that indicates to me some degree of precision.</p><p><br /></p><p>If coin grades were simply Good, Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, etc., there is play in there for subjectivity. Although I&#039;m sure there are boundaries... for instance, fine coins should never exhibit particular flaws, which always drop the coin down a grade.</p><p><br /></p><p>But once those numeric assignments are made, I would have to think that there has been some calibration of standards that is rather objective. Otherwise, it&#039;s like a movie critic giving a movie one to five stars. A nice opinion, but hardly useful in a precise sense.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is why I get a little bent when someone suggests that the TPGs are not intended to render authoritative judgments on the particular grade of coins. I think that&#039;s a huge cop out, and on top of that, it is demonstrably not true in the practice of buying and selling coins today. Buyers WANT an authoritative, relatively objective grade based on shared or published standards. Otherwise, there would be no CAC.</p><p><br /></p><p>The entire issue, in my view, hinges on allowing TPGs to push grades around based on aesthetics and rarity. That&#039;s just stupid. I don&#039;t need an expert to tell me a coin is attractive or ugly. I need them to tell me it is genuine, that it hasn&#039;t been cleaned, and how well it has been physically preserved.</p><p><br /></p><p>When comic books are graded, the graders do not look at the yellowing of the paper and try to discern how beautiful the color of yellow is. They knock the book down a grade or two for not having white pages, depending on the severity of the yellowing. You know what you are dealing with. Rusty staples? Dings the grade. Creases? How many creases? A rip? How long is it?</p><p><br /></p><p>I can decide for myself if the coin is attractive or desirable. That&#039;s not the kind of info I need from TPGs.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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