Grading coins
shinywhite
Posts: 346 ✭✭✭
I watched several videos that intels the grading of coins. I'm sure almost everybody on this forum has heard of Coin Week. It has a guy to whom brings in 20 different coins. Most were US coins. Now, this video shows the obverse and reverse of each coin. The task is to simply test your grading skills. I tried this out. I can not explain how much fun this was. 20 coins up and 20 coins graded by me, the viewer. As I waited for the return of the actual NGC grades ,I could not help but wonder how long does it actually take before one can say they are decent coin grader. I realize some folks learn quicker than others and some folks submerge themselves into the art. Thusly, the coins came back with the official NGC grades. I must say I felt good about getting 3 out of 20. I have light years left before I can truly grade anything much less coins but I will continue to put in due work. Finally, the question begs, how long does it take for a person to be able to grade coins competently?
Comments
@shinywhite said: "How long does it take for a person to be able to grade coins competently?"
Your question is a good one and should inspire many responses. It is also too broad to be answered quickly so I'll just write some things to be considered in the answers that must surly follow:
There are so many variables, yet a basic answer is "VALID experience." We are like a computer and we need to be "programed correctly." That's why folks who have been around for fifty years may not actually have the experience to be considered good. Additionally, the standards have been shifting over the decades and it is harder to hit a moving target.
So, your eyes, type of light, magnification, amount of reading and study, etc all play a part. It has been said that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in something. From what I've seen, with the proper mentor, and grading specimens to study, a person can be better than most in just several hundred hours.
I've been grading coins professionally since 1972. While I believe I am competent, I don't consider myself an expert grader and I learn new things almost every day. You can speed up the learning process if you take a few grading seminars.
While GTG's are fun, hardly anyone explains why they reached their opinion of the grade. If thay did, they would be much more educational.
No replies so Mark that your question has been answered HERE, and post it again in the general forum.
How do I mark it as "answered"?
You got me? I did it before but cannot remember. Sorry.
Now go to the question I just asked and write: I wish to know too. Then someone will tell us if I cannot do it.