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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 2490969, member: 24314&quot;]In the last fifty plus years there have been numerous proposals for ways to put a &quot;number&quot; on a coin to indicate its grade.&nbsp; Two of the more well known (for us old timers) are Sheldon and the NCI formula.&nbsp; A few other proposals contained numbers and letters such as 45 ACC.</p><p><br /></p><p>Think about this:&nbsp; If all that was needed to grade any coin was how much detail remained on the coin from the way it looked at the time it was struck (condition of preservation), the only thing a grader would need to be concerned with and judge would be the amount of lost detail due to wear on the coin.&nbsp; Strike would not matter, marks would not matter, etc.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>That is not the way it is.&nbsp; Let&#039;s introduce strike into our equation.&nbsp; Now the grader would need to judge two things and arrive at one grade.&nbsp; Now let&#039;s add marks into the equation.&nbsp; There are now three variables making up the subjective observation.&nbsp; Now let&#039;s add rarity and value.&nbsp; My point is that each characteristic of a coin is subject to interpretation.&nbsp; So instead of one characteristic that is pretty easy to judge - wear, there are several and each of those must be rated separately.&nbsp; When all is done, we have one grade made up of many subjective factors.</p><p><br /></p><p>The old TRUE technical grading as practiced at ANACS (only in DC) for internal records and at INSAB for opinions to the public separated all the factors so rather than AU-50 (one grade) a technical opinion for the same coin might be AU-58, weak strike, excessive bag marks.</p><p><br /></p><p>NGC Ancients and Rick&#039;s system draws on grading system proposals made long ago from several sources.&nbsp; These are bulky systems but the key is they attempted to separate all the factors that make up a grade (like the &quot;technical&quot; system) so that it is more precise and describes what the coin looks like in hand better than using a single number.</p><p><br /></p><p>When a coin&#039;s grade is broken down as appears to be Rick&#039;s proposal, there is less room for differences.&nbsp; For example:</p><p><br /></p><p>Strong Strike = A</p><p>Normal Strike = B</p><p>Weak Strike = C</p><p>Flat Strike = D</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, I assure you from personal experience that I can take your non-collector Granny Simpson and show her an example of each of these coins and in ten minutes with 100 coins, she will not miss any C or D specimens and after about ten more minutes she will start to get the hang of the line between the usual strike and one that is very strong and exceptional.&nbsp; She would not need to know anything about value, rarity, or the various Branch Mints.&nbsp; Therefore, an &quot;O&quot; Mint coin with a full strike that is exceptional FOR THE DATE/MINT would still get assigned a &quot;B&quot; rating because it looks like a normal coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most of the problems we have with grading today (aside from ignorance) is due to value and rarity becoming a part of the grading equation.&nbsp; I think that is the main reason for Rick&#039;s proposal.&nbsp; Let&#039;s get strict old time ANA standards back - no trace of wear, and let the market determine the price for accurately graded coins.&nbsp; No more AU&#039;s graded MS-62 and MS-63. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie52" alt=":hilarious:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> <span style="color: rgb(179, 0, 0)">Good Luck</span>!</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">EDIT</span>: Forgot to add, Rick grades the coin and quantifies w/# or letters the other subjective factors.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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