Grading Question
daltex
Posts: 3,486 ✭✭✭✭✭
Disclaimer: I'm much worse at grading than many here, or at least I find it difficult to grade with any precision, at least in part due to my cataract surgeries.
Is it possible to determine a grade in a holder, not necessarily a TPG holder, but certainly including those, and then upon taking it out of the holder determine that the coin is a higher grade. For example, but only an example, if PCGS receives a coin in a Billy's Grading Service AU 58 holder and is asked to cross it at the same grade, and the graders are confident that it is no higher than an AU 55 (as opposed to not being confident to determine that because the slab is too foggy) is there anything that the graders could see if they cracked out the coin to determine that it really was an AU 58.
Short version: can a holder obscure anything pleasant and an experienced grader have no idea?
Comments
Coins can look better/higher grade out of a holder, particularly with respect to luster and/or color. It’s far more likely that any revised opinions would pertain to uncirculated and Proof coins, rather than circulated ones.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I agree with @MFeld....Holders that have become scratched or cloudy could obscure pertinent grading features. Cheers, RickO