Subjectivity in Coin Grading

I've been asked to write some articles for a couple coin publications, and this is one I've been working on, so I thought I'd share it here first. I welcome any thoughts and comments you may. Thank you!

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SUBJECTIVITY IN COIN GRADING
by Charmy Harker - The Penny Lady

In my opinion, grading coins accurately is one of the most important and valuable skills a coin collector can learn. Because grading is subjective, however, there are (strong) disagreements when it comes to grading coins, especially trying to grade from photographs or scans, which of course can be difficult to get an accurate grade since you can't turn the coin under the light to see all the flaws, toning, amount of luster, discoloration, rim issues, etc. And I know a lot has been written about standards, opinions, and subjectivity in grading, but I thought I'd share some of my experiences and thoughts on learning to grade coins.

GRADING IS VERY SUBJECTIVE

As has been said many times, grading is subjective, so it's difficult to create a tried and true standard since that involves using various individuals' personal opinions. Even the published guides have different ideas and criteria compared to each other, since they were written by humans using their own idea of what is important in assigning a grade.

And if you take grading practices from 20+ years ago, most collectors know that grading has changed quite a bit since then (meaning gotten loser). That's why coins in older third party grading (TPG) holders from the 1980's to early 1990's (PCGS "rattler" and “old green holders” and NGC "fattie" holders) garner higher prices since many times they can be recertified into holders with higher grades (several dealers actually make their living playing this "crack out" game).​

Grading is never black and white - that's why no one has been able to successfully invent computerized grading - there are too many variables that are not black and white but are more based on an individual's own ideas, experience, practice, and/or training of what's attractive or what’s important to them, knowing the difference between wear vs. weak strike, hairlines vs. die flow lines, or how that person interprets certain descriptive words and the percentage within those descriptions (80% red = RD designation on copper or only 20% red = BN; or 20% rims remaining = VG, rather than 60% rims = F). How does a grader interpret or scientifically measure the quantity of color or the percentage of wear?

GRADING COINS

So for me, I first learned to grade coins from an old time dealer who showed me Indian cents (since that was the series I was interested in) in various grades and taught me what the differences were among each grade, beginning with circulated coins (PO1 to AU58), then moving into uncirculated coins (MS60 to MS70), which for me was harder to learn since the differences between grades can be slight, as well as subjective. I’m basically a black and white type person, so learning to grade coins did not come easy to me.

Circulated Coins

For circulated coins, grading is somewhat more scientific, but still has a great deal of subjectivity, particularly when you get into the higher circulated grades, but even with the lower grades like AG and G. The differences between these two grades can be slight, like how much of the date is visible or how strong is the outline of the portrait. For the date, does that mean 90% or 75% or 50% of the date must be visible? Again, that's where subjectivity comes in.

Also, some of the differences between VF20 and VF25 are so slight, same with VF30 and VF35, or AU55 and AU58. An AU55 coin might have less luster, a slightly heavier rub on the high points, maybe a couple more circulation marks than an AU58. For me, personally, when I call a coin an AU58 (I actually use pluses like AU+++), it should have the look of an uncirculated coin, including some luster, but just the slightest of wear on the high points, with minimal marks. Sometimes I call these coins "sliders." Now again, someone else might have a different criteria for AU58 - some want to see a lot of luster, maybe even some red in a copper coin, a crisp strike, giving less weight to wear or the amount of marks on the coin.

Uncirculated Coins

In my opinion, the uncirculated coins are the hardest to learn since you can't judge a coin by the detail remaining like you can on a circulated coin. For uncirculated coins, of course there can be no "wear" on the coin at all, but the marks, spots, luster, eye appeal, strike, toning, etc. all make a difference for each level between MS60 to MS70. For me, this is where subjectivity is even more varied since one person might give more weight in assigning a grade toward a coin with more luster than strike, or spots versus bag marks.

There's no rule or standard that says, for example, a coin with 4 minor bag marks and only 2 specks should be graded MS63, whereas a coin with only 2 bag marks and 1 speck should be MS64. Or a coin that has a ton of luster but weak feather tips should be called MS64 compared to a coin that has a super crisp strike but more subdued luster might be MS65. In my opinion, this is where subjectivity most often creates inconsistency in grading.

LEARNING TO GRADE

When new collectors ask me how to grade Indian or Lincoln cents, I try to show them the basics and also tell them to get one of the grading books, my favorite one being "Making the Grade" since it has some great color photos with highlights of the coin's high points for each series, as well as a brief description of most grades, both circulated and uncirculated. Another quality grading book, of course, is the “Official ANA Grading Standards.”

Then I advise them to look at a lot of coins that are graded by someone they personally trust or respect. I also suggest that they examine a lot of coins that have been certified by the TPG services (PCGS and NGC being the most prominent). As a dealer, even though I don’t necessarily agree with the consistency or accuracy of TPG’s opinions, I tend to give TPG's a little more weight since they are the ones that I have to "please" in order to get coins certified for resale purposes. But as a collector, and what I advise all my customers, make sure you BUY THE COIN, NOT THE HOLDER!

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There are several good articles on the internet that have excellent information on grading coins, including the history of grading and third party grading services, the grading scale (1-70), etc. Here are a few I found that might be worth reading:

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http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/grading-coins.html#Intro to Grading Coins

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http://coins.about.com/od/coingrading/qt/coin_grading101.htm​

http://www.acoin.com/grading.htm​

 

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I realize you are using them as an example;

>95% is defined as red and <5% as brown. I know of nothing where 60% = F, but I could be mistaken there.

 

Nice article. The writer in me is coming out here, so I have to throw this in just as an editing note....don't start sentences with "and". It's a bit nitpicky but something an editor for a publication will notice. Other than that, great stuff!
Guy~

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate both comments, and I made the changes. What do you think of the content - is it "article worthy"?

 

Post of the day!

 

I found myself nodding my head in your very well-articulated post. However, this one comment did throw me a bit...

At least for me, personally, I found learning to grade in mint state FAR easier than circulated grades. For one, there are less grading levels to be concerned with. For another, there are no wear patterns to memorize. While there are certainly nuances to the upper grades when it comes to eye appeal and other more subtle points, mint state grades have always been easier for me.

For instance, I can grade just about any series mint state -- even in series that I'm not very familiar with -- but I fail miserably in circulated grades in those same unfamiliar series.

But maybe that's just me.

Anyway, thanks again for the great post...Mike

 

Guy,

IMO, this is a particular grammar concern that is falling by the wayside. Look in any newspaper or recent book, and I'll wager you find sentences that start with a preposition.

When I went to grade school, they certainly frowned on it, but my impression is that this particular grammar rule has been relaxed in recent years.

Thoughts?...Mike

p.s. It's probably better to start the sentence with "In addition," instead of "And", just to be safe.

 

Thanks for the sneak preview of your article, I can tell people, I read it here first!

 

You're probably right, Mike, but from my experiences just in the past few years with publication, they're still a bit old-fashioned.

Charmy, as for content, I think it's great. Worthy of Coin World or any numismatic publication. I've always wanted to write an article for a numis mag., but I don't have enough knowledge in a single aspect of the hobby to write anything very informative. I think you did a great job with the posted piece. Let us know where it's going to be printed. I'm sure many here would like to pick up a copy.
Guy~

 

OK! Now I will be nit-picky. "And" is a conjunction, not a preposition. Plus, I have never heard of NOT starting sentences with propositions. However, ending sentences with propositions was a no-no. When I was educated, "With whom is she going out." was correct (or at least preferred), but just about all you heard was "Who is she going out with."

 

Thank you for the correction. I should have said "conjunction".

 

Ok, boys, let me chime in on this. As a litigation paralegal, I used to edit legal briefs in very large prestigious/stuffy law firms and even though my grammatical skills have gotten somewhat lax, let me say that even the legal field has "officially" turned to writing more as we speak. In other words, a lot of the formality we all grew up with in English writing has been relaxed quite a bit.

I never used to begin sentences with And or end them with a preposition, however, it is acceptable now to do so - even in legal briefs, believe it or not. Of course, there are still plenty of grammatical formalities, such as not using contractions, spelling out numbers when they begin a sentence, not using slang, and being consistent is still a big one. But writing as we speak is much more acceptable today.

 

I found the article well written and I have to read a lot of crap at work. Keep up the good work Penny Lady!

 

Good! I never liked that bit not ending a sentence with a preposition. The efforts people went to to avoid the preposition just did not sound right. In fact, I basically ignored it.

 

Just trying to help, nothing more. I'd had a comics feature published in papers for almost ten years and know how editors can be. The world of editorial journalism is a far cry from the way we speak. All you have to do is crack open a paper to see this. I was merely throwing in my two cents based on experience.
Guy~

 

Nice article and I would vote for thread of the week, but it gives me an error.

 

Nice article, Charmy! May I suggest adding more info at the end of the quote above that may help a newbie like me understand other aspects of grading...

And the location of the marks will affect the grade, because a coin has "prime focal areas" which our eye tends to be drawn to first, and should be free of blemishes for a higher grade; but those same blemishes could be located elsewhere and not have as much of a negative impact on the grade as they do in the prime focal areas.

Of course you're welcome to re-word it however you want, but you must leave the "And" at the beginning...
Scott

 

I would also add knowing the series you are grading. Makes all the difference sometimes.

 

Great Article

Charmy - thanks for giving us a preview and I really enjoyed your article! I have one suggestion to add if you believe its worthwhile --it seems that the TPGs have been known to grade a key date coin maybe a little higher than it should be. Do you agree that this seems to be the trend? Your article provides good advice for newbies and knowing this little tidbit might be useful when they are comparing coins graded by the same TPG side by side and scratching their heads as to why one coin is an AU-58 and another that is a key date and looks no better than the AU-58 but gets the MS-62.

I too have been trying to improve my grading skills and Making the Grade is an excellent book that I just purchased. And the philosophy "buy the coin, not the holder" certainly bears repeating in an article like yours!! Bravo! :bow:

 

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