Updates on the grading contest at FUN

kranky

Didn't the PCGS World Series start at FUN?

DennisH

Yes it did.

Speaking only for myself, the experience was a blast! Contest participants were isolated off in a far corner on the outside of the PCGS booth, which was a free-standing 4-sided affair off by itself in one corner of the HUGE bourse floor. The PCGS grading monitors were extremely strict about not allowing anyone to get close to the person who was grading.

The setup was simple and spare: A small tensor desk lamp, two blue PCGS boxes of coins, and a scoring sheet with fill-in-the-blank lines numbered 1 to 40. Larry the monitor was extremely nice, helpful, smiling, and the perfect choice for making folks feel comfortable and at ease. The 30-minute clock began running when I took the lid off the first box.

It was weird seeing coins in PCGS holders with blank inserts. The only thing on them, centered at the bottom of the inserts, was a number from 1 to 40... corresponding to the lines on the scoring sheet. All you had to do was write in what you thought the grade was, including any strike qualifier (FB, FBL, etc.), color qualifier (RED, RB, etc.) or surface qualifier (PL, DPL, CAM, DCAM). You had to specify MS or PR on each coin, and also be on the lookout for problem coins, including AT, cleaned, and counterfeit.

Frankly, although I only think I have a clue about grading Morgan dollars, I was surprised at how comfortable I felt with the wide variety of series of coins I looked at. I was also surprised at how "easy" the group was. Most were Mint State or Proof. There were no Colonials or early copper in low grades. There was no incuse gold, which is totally impossible for me. There were lots of Morgans and $20 Saints and several modern proofs, which I suspect pretty well reflects the ratio of the coin submissions PCGS sees these days.

I thought they treated us fairly easily in that there didn't seem to be a lot of "liner" coins. I thought there was one Saint that posed the AU58 vs. MS62 question, and there appeared to be some Morgans that represented the MS62 vs. MS63 question. (I appreciate better now how tough that one is!)

I didn't feel any time pressure at all, and on about 30 of the coins I had an immediate strong feel for the grade. I only changed a couple after further inspection, and only by one point. When I did have a decision to make, I answered it by asking this question: "At which grade would I want to buy this coin?"

I wound up taking less than 25 minutes to grade the coins, and the only one I went back to look at was the Mercury dime to double-check the bands.

In retrospect, I think I blew one coin -- a $20 Saint that a couple of folks later told me they felt was a counterfeit. It didn't scream that out to me at the time I was grading it, but I did have the reaction, "I'd never buy this thing." I didn't see anything I thought was cleaned, either.

All in all, it was a neat experience and well worth the $50 playing fee. It taught me that a decade of looking at Heritage auction lots and thousands of dealer cases at Long Beach, etc. has taught me far more about grading a wide variety of coin series than I ever suspected. It also impressed upon me that the people who grade for a living and see thousands of coins every day, absolutely must develop an "eye" for grades that is hard to sneak anything past. I'll still whine and gripe about the grades I get on my coins, but I'll do so with FAR more appreciation for the people who do it for a living.

-- Dennis

kranky

Excellent report, Dennis! Thanks.

greghansen

The handout that they gave us participants indicated that our scores would be emailed to us on Monday afternoon and that the top 2 would be set forth on the PCGS site. It was a hoot, and quite humbling. A pretty fair cross section of coins, I thought. I think it will be a great promotional contest, I applaud PCGS again, for this innovation. I was suprised by the fact that not all grading slots appeared to be filed. They had an announcement Thursday morning over the PA advising people there were still openings if they wanted to participate. I know the $50 put some people off, but to me it was money well spent and I hope they do it again next year.

Russ

Dennis,

Thanks for a fantastic report! I'd love to do one of these some day, even though I'd likely embarass the hell out of myself.

Russ, NCNE

jdimmick

Thanks for the report, looking foward to my turn "learning experience" at Baltimore, March

DHeath

I had the pleasure of meeting BJ Searle at the PCGS booth, and she admonished me for not participating. I wish I had. Maybe next show. You guys are having too much fun.

Stuart

DennisH: Thanks for the informative report on the PCGS Grading Challenge!

BigE

Thanks Kranky for bringing this up, and thanks Dennis for the inside info----------------BigE

foodude

My time slot was Thursday @ 4:30pm. I plan to post my comments on Monday. I thought we should wait to provide comments until after the FUN show was over, or is PCGS done with this portion of the grading contest (i.e., no more FUN show entries)?

Placid

I guess there is no such thing as a 3 or 4 way tie?

sinin1

We all had the same coins right?


#1 MS 63 FBL
#2 AU 55
#3 PR 66 CAM


..... just kidding, I wish I was in Florida - foodude, it is going to make it above freezing today and tomorrow - but by the time you get back to Minnesota, it will get to -10 degrees (F)

foodude

..... just kidding, I wish I was in Florida - foodude, it is going to make it above freezing today and tomorrow - but by the time you get back to Minnesota, it will get to -10 degrees (F

Sinin1,
Great. When I left MN it was a bit above freezing, but expected to warm up to 30F (I still think less tha 70F is cooled. I think MN is why southern CA was invented:Funny When I got to Tampa on Wed. it was about 60F (I'm told that is les than normal by about 10 degrees). While I've been here, in Inverness, FL (and Orlando on Thur. for the FUN show) it was about 60F). I hear that after I leave on Sunday, the temp in FL will go up. In other words, wherever I go it's cold

Oh, BTW, with your grades, maybe someone other than me would have ended up in last place Actutually we find out the results on Monday (psst, I didn't win)

jbsteven

I would be willing to pay Russ' entry fee just to watch him struggle with anything other than AH's and 2 centers.

merz2

kranky
Thanks for asking the question.I too wish I were there.I would love to test my skills,such that they are.

ms70

Thanks for posting your experience. Very interesting to hear about!

Conder101

Were there any lower value coins in the group?

DennisH

Conder 101:

Yes there were... except I don't remember them precisely.

There was a VERY low grade common date Morgan and another non-MS common date Morgan. There was a modern Roosevelt proof. There was an American Silver Eagle proof. There was a common date MS Mercury dime.

Those were the cheapest coins I can recall.

By the way, for anyone who is going to take part in the judging contest in the weeks and months ahead, please be aware that I was told a completely different set of 40 grading coins would be used at each show.

-- Dennis

jdimmick

I would hope that they would use a different set of coins for each show, in order that it would be fair and also we discuss the grading challenge with out giving away specifics. Since there are two contest before my chance in baltimore, it will be nice to see what others thought.

mgoodm3

Sounds like fun. Will be interesting to see the results.

Conder101

Thanks DennisH, Now to go talk to HRH and see if there is anyway I can acquire one of those slabs once this contest is over.