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Message:: [QUOTE="davidh, post: 484559, member: 15062"]Is this the same as saying, for instance, that a "market grade" MS-70 coin could actually have one or two minor defects that would otherwise put it in a "technical grade" of MS-69? Either strict grading standards are followed or they are not.  If they are not then there is no real meaning to the grading system.  It seems that there are several standards for grading, depending on which organization is doing the grading, and everyone is free to either accept whichever grade is most advantageous to themselves, or to substitute their own grading. So who is the accepted grading expert?  ANA, PCGS, Yeoman, the US Mint, HA, you, Joe down the street, me, or...? I get the impression that grading is as used more for "bragging rights" than for marketing realities, e.g.,  "Ignore those little marks there, my coin is really a MS-67 because it looks so nice otherwise.";  or for selling vs buying, e.g., "What so you mean you'll only give me a MS-63 price for my coin.  You can plainly see it looks nice enough to be MS-65."  We often say, "Buy the coin, not the holder." implying that regardless of what anyone (the grading service) says, the grade is meaningless until we self-grade. This means that our own subjectivity supersedes another's objectivity.  This negates the usefulness of any grading system.[/QUOTE]