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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 3227486, member: 112&quot;]These discussions come up all the time and have for as long as coin forums have existed - and not just this one. But before there can even be a meaningful discussion there are a few things that need to be acknowledged and understood. First would be that it doesn&#039;t matter who the graders are. Just about all of them have worked at all or most of the various TPGs at one time or another. So it&#039;s not the actual people doing the grading that matters. Second would be that each and every TPG has its own unique set of grading standards and no two of them are the same. Next would be that the graders who work there are told by the company how to grade the coins. In other words the graders absolutely must grade coins according to the grading standards they are given - whether they personally agree with them or not.</p><p><br /></p><p>Next would the fact that for the last 14-15 years all the TPGs change their grading standards from time to time. And sometimes the companies even change ownership, which can also presage a change in standards. The point of this is that it not only matters which TPG graded the coin, but <u>when the coin was graded</u> is of extreme importance ! </p><p><br /></p><p>All of these things combined dictate and affect the grade assigned to each and every coin by all the TPGs.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, the question is always the same - is this TPG or that TPG the equal of another ? Given what I&#039;ve just told you above there can only be one answer - of course not ! It&#039;s impossible for any TPG to be the equal of another because each and every one of them uses different grading standards, and even those change ! And not only that, each one of them grades different series of coins differently. One TPG is more strict with this one, another is more strict with that one. And at various times some TPGs even refused to assign some grades - as a matter of company policy.</p><p><br /></p><p>So to answer this seemingly simple question one must ask, and first answer, several questions. Like which TPG, in what year, what coin is it, and what grade is it ? </p><p><br /></p><p>Because of all of these things it then by necessity becomes an apples and oranges question and you can only compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bottom line trying to compare TPGs is a fools errand. The old tried and true mantra is and always has been the only thing that actually works - completely ignore the plastic - regardless of whose plastic it is ! When it comes to buying coins the one and only thing you should be considering is the coin itself. </p><p><br /></p><p>Buy the coin - not the slab ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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