Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;NPCoin, post: 1206374, member: 5629&quot;]Market grading is as old as the lay numismatic hobbyist.&nbsp; James Halprin (in his <i>N.C.I. Grading Guide</i>) defines market grading as &quot;the grade at which most reputable dealers would retail a coin. Often the retail market grade is less conservative than the technical grade. Factors other than the state of preservation are taken into account...&quot;&nbsp; What I find interesting is the allusion that the practice of market grading originates with those selling the coins...the dealers.&nbsp; That would mean that &quot;market grading&quot; is as old as the practice of coin dealing itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>To very partially answer your question as to who is involved in this market grading push, here are some of the people from some of the most prominent entities involved:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If we go as far back as the late 1940s, we come across Dr. Sheldon form whom the current 70-point system of grading used in the ANA standards was derived.&nbsp; Although Sheldon&#039;s scale varies from the form of &quot;market grading&quot; we have today, it is still similar in that there is a direct grade-price correlation.&nbsp; It is said that the ANA, as early as 1908, had a grading committee with attempts to set standards for particular series.&nbsp; Whether these attempts were attempts to indoctrinate a form of &quot;market grading&quot; on the numismatic community would only be revealed by the copies of &quot;<i>The Numismatist</i>&quot; from 1908-1911 (which I do not have in my library) with the Gettys-Catich articles referred to in Halprin&#039;s <i>N.C.I. Grading Guide</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Even if these earlier attempts at standardization do not meet up with the definition of the term &quot;market grade&quot;, the attempts were most certainly accelerated in the early 1970s when the &quot;invasion of the investors&quot; was foreseen by many in the numismatic industry.&nbsp; The modern practice of &quot;market grading&quot; could well be attributed to this &quot;invasion&quot; as dollar signs danced in the heads of those with inventory.&nbsp; Just something to really think about.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regardless, I would contend that &quot;market grading&quot; has existed since the beginnings of numismatic transactions.&nbsp; When applied to formal standards, we call it &quot;market grading&quot;.&nbsp; When applied to informal dealings, we have historically called it &quot;over-grading&quot; or &quot;trying to rip-off the unlearned&quot;.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in