Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SuperDave, post: 2921268, member: 1892&quot;]It is only the current numismatic morality which dictates that deliberately altering a coin&#039;s appearance is anathema, and accepted variances to that theme exist even so. </p><p><br /></p><p>A century and a half ago, the discerning collector lacquered his copper so it didn&#039;t turn brown, and scrubbed his silver regularly to keep it shiny. Half a century ago, most silver which displayed tarnish was chemically stripped because that was the accepted practice; to this day we carefully discuss when dipping a coin might and might not be appropriate. If you remove the ugly brown color on a Morgan, or the haze on a Proof, and come up with blinding mirrors, you are a hero.</p><p><br /></p><p>So the question I put forth is not, &quot;Is it wrong <b>now</b>?&quot; The question is, &quot;Was it wrong <b>then</b>?&quot; The answer is, in my opinion, ambivalent at best. Was expert modification of the surfaces of a coin in order to make it more closely and accurately resemble its&#039; condition at the moment it was minted considered reprehensible fifty years ago? Thirty? Or was it relatively widespread practice, considered no worse than maybe a bit &quot;greasy?&quot; And considering that the practice, when the lawsuit was filed, was engaged in by a varied cadre of high-level dealers with long experience, are we to somehow believe that a TPG <i>founded by high-level dealers with long experience</i> did not know about it? PCGS did not sue their customers, <b>they sued their <i>peers</i></b>. </p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s silly to think they were in any way &quot;surprised&quot; by coin doctoring. Just as silly as to think it appeared &quot;suddenly.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>It is only the advent of TPG&#039;s and the microscopic delineations of the Sheldon Scale which have made doctoring a coin advantageous. Many of us are old enough to remember a time when tiny differences did not make for a fourfold increase in the value of a coin. And even worse, in many cases those massive differences are the result of a very incomplete knowledge of the rarity of a given coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>It prompts me to ask which is the greater obscenity: carefully restoring a coin to improved appearance - a topic regarding which we share knowledge and procedure on a daily basis, or manipulating grading standard and practice over the course of decades to make more money for the shareholders and gain greater control over the hobby as a whole, such that a coin I can afford in MS63 becomes beyond my means without a second mortgage in MS64, <b>when you could give it either grade at random if I submit it a dozen times</b>?</p><p><br /></p><p>If doctoring is a problem, it&#039;s only because TPG&#039;s made it a worthwhile endeavor.[/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