do grading standards change within a series?

sinin1

I am building a little PCGS grading set of my own - working on Roosevelts, Jeffersons, and Franklins



is a MS64 always a MS64 irregardless of date/mintmark?

for example most 1948 Franklins had better strikes than 1958's (I think) do they get graded as 1958-D's or Franklins when they get graded?


another example would be the CAM or DCAM designations - do they change depending on date in a series or are they uniformly consistent (as they can be)

cherrypickincoin

Absolutely. It definitely changes from series to series and also in some cases, from mint to mint and date to date. This generally has everything to do with 1) The size of the coin, Morgans in 64 sometimes appear like they have more marks than a 64 Quarter but they're just bigger. 2) The strike, the biggest factor. Is the date and mint or series notorious for a weak strike? Then it would be graded accordingly.

LucyBop

here is a thread on Franklins:

http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=160990&highlight_key=y&keyword1=101

wingedliberty

There are drastic changes within a series in grading standards and criteria.
Consider the following.

1.Early copper planchet quality is taken into consideration.
2.Chopmarks on Trade dollars.
3.Adjustment marks on Seated types.
4.Matte proofs are graded differently than modern proofs.
5.etc,etc,etc.

etc,etc,etc,

Best wishes,
Brian.

cherrypickincoin

Excellent posts there by wingedliberty. There are a lot of factors to take in account when grading a coin. A 64 is not always a 64, that's the moral of the story. A 64 isn't always a 64 even within its own series either, like Walkers, Morgans, etc.

sinin1

I guess I am more curious about coins in the same series



comparing Morgans with Ikes is probably similar to comparing apples with oranges



but how about comparing 1962-D Franklins with 1948-D Franklins?


or 1965 Jeffersons with 1945-S Jeffersons



or 1946 Roosevelts with 1953-S Roosevelts?

LucyBop

A 62 Frankie will have the same detail on the Obverse as the 48 Because in 1960 the master dies we re-worked, however, as a result of this the mint did not do a great job on the reverse and the bell lines on the 62 are weaker then the bold lines of the 48. PCGs does take this into account.

sinin1

thanks for the link LUCY - very helpful on Franklin series - but can see learning to grade even one series is quite a challenge - reminds me of a collector I met who said he knows Mercury dimes well (better than most dealers) and can walk through a big show and cherrypick - either in misgraded slabs or raw and do quite well - I am seeing the advantages in specializing in a small group or series compared to the big dealers who handle it all


Lucy, your link also brought back memories of when NumisEd had intelligent posts