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Our assessment of grades

nwcsnwcs Posts: 13,386 ✭✭✭
in Q & A Forum
An interesting question has been asked several times in different situations and I thought I'd ask someone far more knowledgeable than myself. Do you think people tend to overgrade their coins as a rule and if so why do you think that is and what are the more common things that you've seen people overlook when overgrading?
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  • homerunhallhomerunhall Posts: 2,496 ✭✭✭
    This is actually a very cool question...

    There are basically two types of overgraders...those that know better and do it on purpose for financial gain, and those who don't know any better.

    Those who do it on purpose are usually dealers trying to improve profits by fudging a little on quality. The grading services have made this harder to do in the coin market. Because of this, I urge all collectors to be extremely careful when purchasing raw coins...say in an online auction place, at a flea market, from other collectors, etc. And it makes no sense to buy uncertified coins from dealers unless the coins cost less than $20.

    The people who "overgrade" coins because they don't know any better are usually fairly new to the market. But then again...we do have the saying that "ownership adds a point." It always seems that people have a slightly over-optimistic view of their own coins, even when they are in slabs...seems like everyone's coins are "PQ" or "high end."

    I don't really think it's a matter of certain types of coins...I just think it's a matter of ownership makes for optimism.

    Second part of the question...

    The easiest grading concept is marks and abraisions...most people can "count the marks."

    The next easiest grading concept is strike...the coin either has the usual details or it doesn't.

    The hardest coin grading concept is luster. Does the coin have original luster? Does it have slight "high point rub?" This takes a lot of experience looking at a lot of coins. Qne suggestion...you may notice that top dealers always tilt a coin back and forth when they look at it. What they are doing is noticing how the light reflects off of a coin at different angles. This is the way you can see breaks in the luster at high points that are indicative of rub.

    The eye appeal issue is somewhat subjective. This takes practice and talking to other collectors and dealers.
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