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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ronnie58, post: 2963687, member: 90698&quot;]I don&#039;t know how many CT members check out Gerry Fortin&#039;s site, but his daily blog addressed this issue morning.&nbsp; I had taken the liberty of forwarding Kirkuleez&#039;s post in order to get his feedback.&nbsp; For anyone not involved in Liberty Seated coinage, Mr. Fortin is the foremost expert on seated dime varieties, and it is his initial F that heads the variety code.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; I hope that this will help to move the conversation forward.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Here is his reply:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>&nbsp; </b>I&#039;ll start my response with expressing the utmost respect for John Albanese and his in-depth grading knowledge. John is the ultimate expert for United States gold. John has inspected multi thousand coins in his numismatic career and has an insight that few mortals possess. Consider this fact when discussing CAC on message boards in light of your own grading experience on all United States copper, silver and gold denominations.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; CAC resolved a key numismatic hobby issue that was spinning out of control: grade inflation. The TPGs are not benevolent organizations. Rather they are businesses measured on year to year revenue and profit growth. The grading services must devise methods to increase the number of coins graded along with ramping grading fees and other &quot;service&quot; fees. This is why the market is buried in &quot;custom&quot; labels and special &quot;signature&quot; labels for modern coins. In the mid 2000s, the grading services become loose towards increasing volume and something had to be done. I remember Laura Sperber (Legend Numismatics) being one of the most vocal dealers concerning grade inflation and the potential long term impact on the hobby.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; John Albanese stepped in and established CAC as a vehicle to identify those coins that were accurately graded and in the top 20% of the distribution at the assigned grade level. The top 20% of the distribution means those coins that are choice for the grade and in some cases, may overlap the distribution of the next higher grade. If the &quot;price guides&quot; provide pricing for a properly graded &quot;average coin&quot; for the grade (50th percentile), then CAC approved coins should trade at a premium since CAC approval coins are superior to the &quot;average coin&quot;.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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