Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 8464967, member: 101855&quot;]I don&#039;t know what all of carping about &quot;market grading&quot; is about. I started to learn to grade from the old Brown and Dunn line drawing books when I as in high school (1960s). I learned a heck a lot more from &quot;Photograde&quot; which I studied deeply when I was in college (late 1960s, early 1970s).</p><p><br /></p><p>That book was a good start, but it had its flaws. At least it set some standards because before that, there were none. Some dealers were honest and grading conservatively on both ends of the transaction. Too many bought coins in one grade and sold them at a higher grade. At least the book started the learning process.</p><p><br /></p><p>After that I looked at many thousands of the coins, tokens and medals. This learning period has been forever on-going for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have not purchased all of the editions of the ANA grading guides, but the couple I have are pretty decent. It would be nice if the leading TPGs used them consistently, but they don&#039;t. The second level companies are worse. The rotten grading companies are useless.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you are advocate of so-called &quot;EAC grading,&quot; good for you, but expect to pay higher prices from the dealers who use it. The old saying is &quot;If the alligators don&#039;t get you, mosquitoes will.&quot; And &quot;There is no Santa Claus in numismatics&quot; unless you are ripping off the collectors&#039; widow.</p><p><br /></p><p>BTW, I bought my avatar coin, an 1805 dime, from the late Kathern Bullowa in the mid 1970s. She called it &quot;EF.&quot; She charged AU money for it, which is what it is. Today it&#039;s in a PCGS AU-58 holder.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1499744[/ATTACH][/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