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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IdesOfMarch01, post: 2340716, member: 39084&quot;]While I have no doubt this statement accurately applies to U.S. coins, I&#039;m less certain it applies to ancient coins.&nbsp; In my experience, almost all ancient coins are purchased on the basis of individual evaluation of that particular coin (except maybe large lots), so a grade of, say, &quot;about VF Vespasian denarius&quot; would almost never be sufficient to entice a collector to purchase that particular coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>In other words, a grade of MS-60 may be adequate to describe an Indian Head cent to a collector who is interested in U.S. coins, and he might buy it without ever examining it personally.&nbsp; But a description of &quot;VF Vespasian denarius&quot; would almost never be enough for a collector of ancients.&nbsp; Is the obverse legend completely on the coin?&nbsp; Is it a double-strike?&nbsp; Is the portrait of Vespasian reasonably artistic?&nbsp; Does the reverse have a historically significant event or item portrayed (e.g., Judaea Capta)?&nbsp; None of these considerations comes into play when evaluating modern coins, but can be crucial to a collector of ancients and render the VF grade almost irrelevant in making a purchase decision.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m not saying that there isn&#039;t gradeflation in the ancients world -- there clearly is -- I&#039;m just suggesting that it wouldn&#039;t need to be factored into a statistical analysis of comparatives over a few decades of pricing ancient coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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