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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Info Sponge, post: 901097, member: 20538&quot;]Things that require study are fine, in fact that adds to the fun, at least for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>I get scared, though, when I read about professional dealers arguing about whether a coin had been cleaned (recent thread, I forget which exactly). If the pros can&#039;t tell, how can I tell if I&#039;m getting an OK deal?</p><p><br /></p><p>The TPGs, according to people here, can be off by one or two numeric grades. There&#039;s a coin series mentioned here where MS65 brings about $10, MS66 goes for about $200, and MS67 for more like $6,000. I understand the vital importance of learning to do my own grading, but do I really have to learn to do it better than someone who does it for a living, in order to avoid overpaying by a factor of 30?</p><p><br /></p><p>The &quot;Eye Candy&quot; thread in the US Coins forum showed examples of just how beautiful toning can be. But according to posts here, even experts can&#039;t always tell the difference between natural and artificial toning. How can the toned coins market be a safe one to buy in?</p><p><br /></p><p>Then there&#039;s the counterfeiting problem.</p><p><br /></p><p>Am I worrying too much and making too much of the difficulties? Since I&#039;m more into technology than history, could I just wimp out and only collect moderns? But then, the series where two numeric grades multiplied the price by 600 was a modern.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Collect what you like and don&#039;t worry about the economics&quot; is sensible advice, but I hate the idea of getting a bad deal even if it doesn&#039;t actually matter.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thoughts? Advice? Reassurance? Dire warnings? All input welcome.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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