ANA Grading Class

nwcs

Anyone been to an ANA grading (non-advanced) class? They're having a 3 day seminar in Charlotte next March that I'm thinking of going to. It looks good, but I want to make sure it's not too basic before signing up. I'd like to just jump into the advanced one, but they say you have to have done the regular one first (how do they check these things?).

Neil

TheNumish

I took the advanced class and learned quite a bit. If you have a basic knowledge of grading I think you should skip the beginning class. If you present a good argument why you should skip it they will let you.

kieferscoins

I took the basic class in Alanta and is well worth it. You will learn alot, go through 15 (ANA Grading Set) boxes of slabs plus alot of raw coins, slides and will come out learning more about grading coins and what to look for. If you jump to the advanced class, you may feel lost. I would definately take the basic class.

Cameron Kiefer

kranky

Having taken both, I'd say there's good reasons to start with the basic one. The advanced class is really focused on MS coins and assumes you already know grading technique (lighting, rotating the coin, picking up hairlines, evaluating prime focal areas, detecting light rub, etc.).

If you want to read (in excruciating detail) what was covered in each, there's a thread about the Basic class here and one about the Advanced class here. These were both full-week classes at the ANA Summer Seminar, so some material will clearly have to be skipped to fit it into three days.

nwcs

For me, I've spent a lot of time with the ANA grading standards and the PCGS grading standards and looked at the videos of grading and counterfeit detection from ANA. I guess I want to really be sure it is worth the investment of time for the basic class. I'd hate to be bored, though it's always great to look at coins!

RLinn

Kranky, thanks for the links to the two great refresher reads on the grading classes.

kranky

I guess you could take the Advanced class (and I don't think they'll make a fuss) since you've been through the videos. But even if you start with the Basic class I guarantee you'll learn plenty. I imagine with the 3-day class they move along at a pretty rapid clip.

RLinn, thanks for the nice words.

danglen

Having taken both classes as some of the other members of the board have done, I think you will find them to be completely different in scope. The Basic Course is just that. It teaches the basics and then you have to go out into the real world and look at a lot of coins to gret the real benefit of the class. The Advanced Course concentrates on Mint State coins and teaches you how to make split second decisions that will mean dollars in your pocket when you're on the bourse floor looking through hundreds of coins in a short period of time. I took the Advanced Course in Colorado Springs this past summer during the first of two weeks of ANA Summer Camp. Between sessions I went to a coin show in town, and with my newly acquired skills was able to buy enough coins at a great price to pay for the entire two weeks of school. As I have said before on this board, knowledge doesn't cost, it PAYS!

Flash

Wouldn't it be great if the ANA held a convention on the West Coast more than once every 5 or 6 years, so some of us West Coasters would be able to attend the seminars without having to travel to Colorado or to the other side of the continent?