I'm just learning to grade so any shot I take at 'grading' is not unlike throwing a dart at a flock of pigeons. (1) I've the basic idea down; however, I just don't have the experience yet. That said, there is no better way to learn other than jumping on into the mix. Here are my 14 hail Mary guesses on Peace Dollars: 1. AU 55 - Cleaned 2. AU 50 - Cleaned 3. AU 50 - Cleaned 4. AU 58 5. AU 55 6. AU 55 7. AU 58 8. AU 50 9. MS 62 10. AU 58 11. AU 55 12. AU 58 - Cleaned 13. Fine 14. Previous grading: 64 - case cracked open and resubmitted. Here are the actually results: 1. A8 DETAILS 2. A8 DETAILS 3. A8 DETAILS 4. 58 5. 58 6. 55 7. 62 8. 62 9. 58 10. 61 11. 62 12. MS DETAILS 13. V2 DETAILS 14. 63 Comments I submitted coins I knew had been cleaned because I wanted some confirmation that I was getting a little bit of skill at identifying cleaned coins. The good news is that I nailed 4/5 of the cleaned coins. I'm pretty pleased with that - it is a tremendous improvement for a beginner. I obviously still struggle with telling the difference between high AUs and low MS grade coins. More study is required. For me item #14 is very interesting. I cracked a MS64 out of a PCGS case and ANACS has graded it a MS63. While one coin isn't definitive it does lend a little bit of weight to something I've suspected, that being, the top three grading companies probably aren't as far apart as some would have us believe - at the very least, in this one test case it doesn't look as if ANACS is passing out candy. (2) NOTES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1: This analogy isn't about the improbability of success but more along the lines of "Why would you do that?" 2: I'll be buying some more PCGS coins, cracking them, and sending them into ANACS just for giggles. I'll report back here when I do.
I'd love to see pictures of 8 and 11 to get a sense what had you and them so far apart. ANACS doesn't give out candy especially not with their specials, but they do have their fair share of all over the place ones, but yea you can find coins in any of the legitimate services that would upgrade or downgrade at a different one. They all have slightly different standards and grade to their own.
I don't have the coins in my possession yet. I'll look at scaring up some pictures when I get them back. As for me being far apart from a grading service, I'm so new at this that it is hardly surprising. Also, with common date low grade Peace Dollars a point either way is not really much of an issue.
You were pretty close or spot on with the majority which is why those two seemed so interesting to see.
Update: This is incorrect. The original case was not a PCGS slab; it was an IGS slab. Hopefully, the large and dangerous looking fellow in the Plant Club Gardening Services van, who has been parked across the street for the last two weeks, will finally leave. I'm very sorry. This was my mistake.
