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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;JPeace$, post: 2054464, member: 42727&quot;]I get it.&nbsp; It&#039;s now safer to dip your toes in this hobby than it ever was (or so I&#039;m guessing), but that doesn&#039;t mean there aren&#039;t sharks in the water!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I did a quick check of ANA Grading standards and when they were published.&nbsp; Here&#039;s an article from 1990 talking about the release of Jim Halperin&#039;s book.&nbsp; I found it interesting that it mentions the ANA grading standards and that the ANA readily adimitted they did not clearly define Mint State coins in the grading guide. </p><p><a href="http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.coingrading.com/intro1.html</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So even at the release of this standard, things were grey.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1st edition: 1981</p><p>2nd edition: 1984</p><p>3rd edition: 1987</p><p>4th edition: 1991</p><p>5th edition: 1996</p><p>6th edition: 2005</p><p>7th edition: 2013</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I&#039;m guessing that even after the ANA released their guide, there was still considerable debate as to coin grades.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure there are other factors involved, but the lack of clarity in coin grading had to lead to the success of the TPG&#039;s.&nbsp; If everyone agreed on the grade, why then would you need them?&nbsp; Authentification alone couldn&#039;t be sole reason for their success.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>That aside, I do understand your points about MS69 vs. MS70.&nbsp; I don&#039;t like what&#039;s going on in the modern market as it pertains to marketing labels vs. coins, but I can just choose when and where to participate.&nbsp; I think the coin market is a true free market.&nbsp; Ultimately, supply and demand will win the day.&nbsp; Some will be burned badly and others will profit.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>While I&#039;m new to this hobby, I&#039;ve taken the time to educate myself via internet, books, coin shows and any other way I can.&nbsp; By doing this, I think I&#039;ve lessened my exposure to the down side of the hobby, but not without some monetary lessons.&nbsp; I still have much to learn and enjoy doing it.&nbsp; IMO, the TPG&#039;s have allowed me to buy coins with some level of security while gaining this education.&nbsp; I don&#039;t just buy the label, but use it as my starting point.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure many will chose to do it differently.&nbsp; While it would be nice to try and help those who jump in with no experience, there&#039;s another saying that is appropriate: you can lead a horse to water, but you can&#039;t make them drink.&nbsp; I could expand on that thought, but it&#039;s an appropriate idiom.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I think it&#039;s human nature to remember the good old days as being better than today&#039;s.&nbsp; But I&#039;ll bet you can think back and remember seeing new collectors blindly following the direction of unscrupulous dealers and getting burned in the process.&nbsp; At least today, the barriers to enter the market are a much easier hurdle.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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