I found this PCGS grading challenge video and thought you all might enjoy it. Since you only have a video to base your opinions on, luck is a major factor in whether or not you can get the right grade, but it was still pretty interesting. If you wish, post how well (badly?) you did. I got 6/20 correct, 8/20 within one point, and completely bombed 3 of them. Good luck!
That was fun! I think I would have done better if I was seeing the coins in hand, some of the shots were really quick. I got 8/20 correct, and 9/20 within one point. I was more than one point off on 3/20 (although to be fair, that '67 quarter near the end shouldn't count. That was a trick).
I'm pretty much in the same boat as Jason. 8 right, 9 others within one grade, 3 off by 2. Some of them were really hard to see in the video. Of those that I missed, I guessed low on 9, high on 3.
I watched that entire video as well and was surprised how many times the pronouncement "close enough" appeared. Even the PCGS rep said he missed the proof! The differences between a 64 and a 65 or a VG-10 and F-12 seemed murkily nebulous or almost impossible to describe at times. The video definitely made me appreciate some of the subjective and fuzzy elements that exist in grading. I didn't bother testing myself, as I'm fully aware of my own limitations. In other words, I would BOMB!!!!
As an interesting counterpoint to the video in this thread, I highly recommend you view the video and explanation of the NGC grading process, which I posted recently ( https://www.cointalk.com/threads/cool-video-showing-the-ngc-grading-process-at-anaheim.282761/ ) I was surprised at how often Ron Guth said "close enough," but I think he was referring to the scoring of the grading competition, not the actual grades (you get points for getting the correct grade, and you get less points for getting within one grade). I'm sure that he realizes that even a single point difference often means a significant monetary difference in terms of value. He seemed to downplay the difference between grades, but I think he was referring to the grading ability of the person in the video and not the actual grades of the coins. In reality, if most collectors are consistently within a grade point of the TPGs, they are doing quite well in terms of grading skill. The PCGS and NGC grading videos should be viewed as complementary - in the NGC video, Mark Salzberg takes the time to explain and justify each grade that NGC gave the coins (and is thus, in my opinion, a far more educationally significant use of time). In the PCGS video, you have the opportunity to grade (by images, of course) 20 different coins in a short time period, and then compare your grades to the PCGS grades. The "explanation" by Guth is less valuable in the PCGS video, but that isn't really the focus of this video.
Granted, looking at a coin in a video is way different from looking at it in person, but scoring as I did has me wondering if collectors tend to miss grades pessimistically in these contests while dealers miss them optimistically due to their mindset. As a collector, I want to spend my money on the nicest coin for the grade. As a dealer, I want to sell the nicest grade for the coin. I've done this contest in person before, never getting more than 8 or 9 right, but usually missing low on the rest.
I did better than I thought - 5 right, 11 within 1, and off by 2 or more on 4 of them. that was a fun and education exercise.
