Grading tip of the day.

wingedliberty

Grading tip of the day:

I noticed that when members post an inquiry regarding other member's opinions on a coin's grade,
alot of responses tend to overfocus on contact marks and nicks. While detracting marks are a critical
component of a coin's overall grade, please keep in mind that most professional graders will evaluate
strike and luster as well. Just think about it from the stand point of psychology. Any person grading a
coin is going to look at it first without magnification from a distance, we all do, The subconscious effect
is that you already form a bias in your mind as to the coins overall merits. No matter how objective you
think you are, you will be affected mentally. A perfect example is the 1945 Walker that DanArchy posted.
The coin has numerous nicks and contact marks, but grades a PCGS-MS64. The main reason is the
exceptional strike. I recommend the ANA grading guide as well as the PCGS guide. Those who are
new to the hobby, CANNOT afford to be without either one!!!. The ANA guide is great for grading
circulated coins and the PCGS guide is great for mint state and proof. I welcome feedback.


Brian.

Dog97

Because nobody can post a scan that really looks like the actual coin the technical merits is all we can judge. Strike is always the first thing I evaluate. In real life the strike & luster hits me at the same time then I take a closer look at the marks.
I like the ANA guide for circs too. The PCGS book has the only examples of what a MS grade standard is. I can't grade a MS coin by ANA standards because I don't know what the ANA standard looks like. I've has so many PCGS graded coins that I use PCGS as the standard when grading MS coins. Also when grading from scans it's almost impossible to tell if the coin is an AU-58 or a true Mint State.

MartyF

Good insight Brian, thanks (will continue my reading)

stman

Agree with Dog97, With scans you can't see luster, eye appeal etc.
Proofs you can't see mirrors,hairlines etc. So really all we can see is marks. And just do the best we can.

But I agree with your thread for people learning, and we all are that everything needs to be taken into consideration.

Stman

goyankeez

What about Photograde. Is that a good book to grade circs?

stman

I like photo grade. It's been around a long time and a lot of people use it.

stman

darktone

Brian I do agree with you that people "tend to overfocus on contact marks and nicks". Most newbies do this and totally miss the mark on a coins grade. mike

Gilbert

Photograde is a decent reference book, however, I wouldn't use is exclusive of the aforementioned grading references. It is somewhat vague and leaves much to interpretation used in a vacuum. It is a book I will keep in my reference library.

Generally, you will find, that Photograde is a more generalized description. In other words, it leaves a bit of wiggle room.

dakra

goyankeez,
I use photograde and I wasn't happy with it at first. I figured it would cover more information on the MS and PR grades but it didn't. I do like the fact that it gives you specific information on what to look for such as wear and the placement of the wear. My next book will most likely be the ANACS and/or the PCGS guide but the last time I could not find either.

-Dave

dakra

Darktone,
I am guilty of judging my own coins by the contact marks. Since I am new, I analyze my coins to no end. One thing I have started to do is take two or more looks at my coins, especially if I decide to have a coin graded.

I will look with the naked eye, at 8x and then I will put the coin down.
later I will come back and do the same thing.

Sometimes you can catch things you missed, while other times I admit to myself the coin wasn't as bad as my first view led me to believe.... Has this happened to anyone else...or is it just me?

-David

mdwoods

Brian, good points made. It is unfortunate that scans and most photos don't capture the luster. That is really the first thing I see, then marks catch the eye while tilting the coin at different angles, and about the same time, I am judging the strike too. It is too bad that connection speeds still won't let you show high quality realtime video (at least for most, I have DSL and it's not fast enough). We could then probably show our coins much more accurately. Another 5 years or so. Mark

tjkillian

While a scan is clearly not perfect, many times you can see strike and luster. Wingedliberty is correct in that contact marks is not the only criteria, luster, eye appeal, and strike also come in to play. Every collector is different and I appreciate a better strike rather than minimal contact marks. If a coin has only an average strike yet is mark free it would not rate as high with me as a fully struck coin with a couple of contact marks. On Ebay and elsewhere you've all seen a hideous coin in a high grade PCGS holder. Why? Technically it is the assigned grade but may not have eye appeal.

Tom