I went to my first show this weekend since being back in the hobby for a short time. I bought a few Barber Dimes, all were no problem coins in Fine of better. After I get them home and upon further inspection I found one which the dealer had graded EF was only a VG. The price reflected a Fine coin. Is it common for dealers to overgrade and underprice coins. I did not get ripped off as the price was low enough but the point is if I wanted a VG that's what I would have bought in the first place. I did learn one thing though, I know my grading skills are rusty but I know if I had taken a magnified look at the show I never would have bought it. Look closely at the shows and I will get what I want. From now on I will take the loupe and the prices for my grades and get what I pay for. Regards Tony
Tony, Even if you don't take your own loupe, many of the dealers will offer you a magnifier to look at the coins. In fact, I would be very cautious of the ones who wouldn't. It might be a good way to judge an honest dealer.
Yes - it is quite common for many dealers to overgrade their coins. But it is quite uncommon for them to underprice them. But if what you mean is - do they overgrade and then price the coin at a value that is less than what it should be based on the grade they assigned - yes that is common as well. That's the best way there is pal
Well dealers are just like everyone else. Most grade the coins they own a little better than the ones that they want to buy.
I don't believe it's always the case that a certain coin may be overgraded, it's just that individual collectors have a differant idea of grades, regardless of books that show you certain grades, or how many coins they have looked at, they are going to set their own grades, based on their own person opinion, this is where I have a hard time when it comes to seated and barber coinage, many suggest that a certain coin can be a F-12 and not have a FULL BOLD LIBERTY, while this is untrue to me, I believe a F-12 should have a full bold liberty without any breaks in the letters whatsoever.
Thanks Thanks all, Yes I mean that the coin is priced lower than the grade warrants. I believe the same Pennycase, a Fine Barber has to have a full Liberty. I grade by photograde, I know there are all kind of systems but this is the one I learned a long time ago so I use it. Regards Tony
In the interest of fairness I will make an additional comment on my original reply. I will readily admit that not ALL dealers overgrade their coins. And not ALL dealers overprice them either. I did not mean to imply otherwise. Over the course of my collecting career I have had the pleasure of getting to know several dealers that I have greatly enjoyed doing business with many times over. But there are far more that I would never do business with at all.
I agree Yes I agree not all dealers overgrade, and not all the coins either. I bought 10 coins and only one was over graded. Just wanted comments since I have been out of the hobby for quite a while. thanks Tony
