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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;NPCoin, post: 400999, member: 5629&quot;]&quot;To be replaced with the days of over-grading by unscrupulous corporations known as TPGs.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>To me, the above summarizes the whole jest of this thread.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, in my view of things, I believe that the word &quot;subjective&quot; has lost its meaning to quite a few involved in coins.&nbsp; I keep seeing, not just here, but everywhere I read numismatics forums, about &quot;right&quot; and &quot;wrong&quot; grading.&nbsp; It just boggles the mind.&nbsp; Grading of coins is based upon a technical standard utilized by an individual (the grader) to determine the condition of the coin in accordance with the grader&#039;s own bias, know as his subjectivity.</p><p><br /></p><p>You cannot say that Grader X, who utilizes &quot;5th Edition&quot; ANA Standards, detests corrosion of any form, and prefers a true full strike where the technical standard requires a full strike, is &quot;wrong&quot; placing an MS65 grade to a coin while Grader Y, who utilizes the current PCGS Standards, gets giddy over rainbow tones, and believes that the market will still accept a weakly struck coin as MS70 (even though such a grade truly does not exist), is right for grading it MS67.</p><p><br /></p><p>To do such is to compare two separate standards used by two individuals with two varying biases.&nbsp; You will <b>not</b> see agreement between them.&nbsp; This is what grading is all about.&nbsp; It is about subjectivity.</p><p><br /></p><p>To oversimplify things, grading has three main forces that influence it:&nbsp; technical standard, individual bias, and market conditions.&nbsp; If you take a coin graded by a specific company and a particular grader within that company, when the coin is selling red hot on the market, it may be attributed as MS67.&nbsp; Take that very same coin, apply it to a different standard <b>OR</b> a different grader <b>OR</b> if the market conditions change and the coin sleeps, you very well may receive that very same coin one or two points lower.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is why the very same TPG very well may regrade the same coin either way on the spectrum.&nbsp; Because grading is subjective.&nbsp; You may/will disagree (this is not directed to you, GD), but in my world, where the sky is pink, the clouds are purple, and birds sing all day long, there is <b>no</b> &quot;right&quot; or &quot;wrong&quot; grade for a coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is why, in my opinion, the TPGs are destined to fail from the very start.&nbsp; There are too many &quot;standards&quot;, too many biases, too many fluctuations in the market, to say that a coin is X grade, or a coin is Y grade, and have that grade reflective of the coin throughout the long run.&nbsp; This is also why there is no replacement for sight-seen, fully disclosed interaction between a seller and a buyer.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is also why you will not be able to pick up ten slabs from the same company of any coin graded at the same grade and be able to find more than two or three that are comparable to each other.&nbsp; Each coin is distinct and different.&nbsp; Each coin has varying defects and detractions.&nbsp; Each person has their own bias as to what is acceptable to them regarding these defects and detractions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Subjectivity.&nbsp; It&#039;s something that I do not even really see when people give their grade opinions.&nbsp; Why do you say it&#039;s a certain grade?&nbsp; Is it because the first reply gave an unqualified opinion, so you jumped on his bandwagon?&nbsp; Is it because eighteen of the last twenty posters said MS-63, and you don&#039;t want to look &quot;uneducated&quot;?&nbsp; Do collectors really even know what they like anymore in their coins, or is this just plain and simple mob mentality at play?</p><p><br /></p><p>Subjectivity is synonymous with bias, which implies an inherent individuality, which denotes differences, that will eventually bring out each one&#039;s uniqueness.&nbsp; There is no &quot;right&quot; or &quot;wrong&quot; when it comes to grading.*</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="1">*The above statements do not apply to frauds and scum-scams, whether obvious or not, especially first party slabbers who misattribute the origins of their coins and slabs, or eBay sellers with names like Coin+Professional, or similar, who make statements along the lines of: &quot;I don&#039;t grade coins, but this is certainly at least MSXX&quot;, &quot;A friend of mine wanted me to sell this coin, but I have no idea what it is&quot;, or &quot;WOWZERS!&nbsp; MUST HAVE!&nbsp; MS70+++!!!&quot;</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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