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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 2966880, member: 112&quot;]Your post kind of addresses two different subjects. One would be the grading aspect and the second would be what qualifies as a major distracting mark.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regarding the grading aspect, you may already know this Bman, but I&#039;m going to explain for those who may read this that do not know it. First of all you mentioned prime focal areas. And when it comes to grading that&#039;s something we need to understand if we wish to learn to grade correctly. So what exactly is a prime focal area ? For some, they probably their own ideas about what part of a coin is a prime focal area and what parts are not. But for grading it&#039;s already predetermined, and it&#039;s different for each and every coin type. For example, look in your ANA grading book at the section for Morgans and you&#039;ll see the prime focal areas plainly marked, as well as secondary areas. Now look at the next section, for Peace dollars, they are marked as well - but they are different than those for the Morgans on both the obverses and the reverses.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is how it is for each and every coin type, each one has different areas that are prime focal areas, secondary focal areas, and the rest of the coin. And contact marks and their number, regardless of their size, count more against the grade in one than they do in the others. And it is only after first determining that part of it that you address the size of the marks and account for that.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is also one other aspect that differs with each coin type - the size of the coin itself - and this is a very important part of the grading process that some either don&#039;t know or simply forget about it when they are grading. You see, when it comes to grading the number of the marks and the size of the marks are relative to the size of the coin, as well as their location on the coin. And when it comes to size there is more than one dimension to consider, you have to consider all 3 dimensions - length, width, and depth. And as the size of the coin diminishes so do all of those dimensions, as well as their number. </p><p><br /></p><p>For example, a Morgan or Peace might have 12 or 13 marks of varying sizes but no larger than average scattered across the coin. (And bear in mind I&#039;m using these numbers as arbitrary numbers, not as actual numbers that you need to know.) And those marks may only drop the grade 1 point depending on exactly where they are - prime, secondary, or other focal areas. But on a dime, that same number of marks in the exact same sizes, in the prime, secondary, or other focal areas for that specific coin may drop the grade 2 or even 3 points. (Also bear in mind we&#039;re talking about MS coins here - things are different with circ coins.)</p><p><br /></p><p>So do you see what I mean ? The larger the coin the more marks of larger sizes you can have before it affects the grade too much.The smaller the coin the fewer the marks of smaller sizes you can have before it affects the grade too much. And you have to know all of this just to deal with the grading aspect. And this entire concept is spelled out in the grading book.</p><p><br /></p><p>When it comes to determining what exactly is a large, medium, or small mark that&#039;s when things become more subjective, a little more iffy you would for there are no designated dimensions for determining sizes. And the same thing goes for scratches, rim dings, gouges, dents, basically anything and every thing that impact the grade of a coin - not just contact marks. All of it is subjective, iffy. So how do you learn what is and what isn&#039;t ? Experience is the best answer, as most who have commented in the thread - you know it when you see it. And yes, some are going to have different opinions, what is large to one may well be medium to another. But with time and practice experience can be and is gained resulting in your opinion often changing. What you used to think was large has now become medium, or visa versa. </p><p><br /></p><p>All of this, every bit of it, and a whole lot more besides, is why it is so important that when trying to learn how to grade accurately and correctly one must look at and closely examine hundreds of thousands of coins. And no, that number is not too large. If anything it is too small when you consider the number of coin types and the all of the different denominations combined. To learn how to grade correctly you have to examine tens of thousands of coins for just 1 type of just 1 denomination. Do that and you&#039;ll understand everything I&#039;ve written above and the subjectivity aspect of it all just kind of disappears.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yeah, it&#039;ll still exist for others who have not done it. But for those who have, for the most part, it just doesn&#039;t exist any more. It is this concept which explains, more than anything else, the differences in opinions on grade that are oh so often expressed.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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