The grade conundrum

tradedollarnut

A question is up on the Q&A forum regarding collectors' propensity to overgrade their coins. It made me think - do you ever catch yourself saying: "I grade this coin a 65, but I'm not sure if PCGS will agree"? Do you ever do that BEFORE you buy a coin?

If you can make that statement BEFORE you shell out your hard earned money to buy it, doesn't it negate the idea that you are overgrading the coin because you have a vested interest in it (ie: ownership adds a point)?

EVillageProwler

Before I buy a coin, I generally try to decide if I agree with the slabbed grade (and its commensurate price). If not, then I pass. Well, unless I think the coin is undergraded!

EVP

Mrpawn

Spent an hour and a half at one of my local coin dealers today. Reviewed his fresh Morgan dollars, of course, looked at his Trade Dollars (no chop marks) and viewed much of his fresh inventory for my "new" Type Sets. Every coin I looked at was viewed with an eye towards "would this coin be slabbed or BB'd at PCGS". Not every coin that I buy is sent to be graded and certifed - BUT, I want every one of them to be able to be (except some Trade Dollars and a few oddities). Dealing with PCGS this last year and learning from their acceptance and rejection of the coins I have sent in has made me a more informed collector. The body bagged coins that I have had returned to me have forced me to refine my grading technique quite a bit. The coins that have come back a point off my expectations have taught me something, but I would have to admit that I have learned more by figuiring out the BB's.

Sometimes my "pass on this one" causes dealers to wonder why. I just tell them that I will just say yes or no and not try to second guess their grading. " I am still learning how to grade different series and have at least 40 years to complete my sets. There is no rush to get this particular coin if I have questions in my mind about it." And I almost always buy something. Today I got some nice commerative halves for my Dansco Type Set book.