How accurate are the coin assessments here on the boards?
GoldenEyeNumismatics
Posts: 13,187 ✭✭✭
It's something that has always lingered in the back of my head--how accurate of peoples assessments of coins here on the boards.
When someone posts a good picture, are the responses they receive generally accurate?? I understand it is difficult to assess a coin based on just a picture, but nevertheless.
These findings are generalizations from responses to coins that I've or friends have posted here. These are not formal results that I've tallied up or anything, just stuff that I've kept in my head.
On "guess the grade" threads, I've found that about 50-60% of people respond with the correct grade plus or minus one (Ex. If a coin is AU55, they'll say AU55, AU53, or AU58).
On threads relating to whether or not a coin is counterfeit (excluding the obvious chinese fakes), people are correct about 60% of the time.
On threads that show a coin and ask for reactions, I've found that people only answer correctly about 20% of the time. People seem to jump the gun on "whizzed" or "counterfeit"--and some people seem always fixated that, unless a coin is black as night, it has been cleaned.
Regarding AT and NT, I have no idea. I've never created such a thread.
Not looking for a fight, this is just what I've found.
When someone posts a good picture, are the responses they receive generally accurate?? I understand it is difficult to assess a coin based on just a picture, but nevertheless.
These findings are generalizations from responses to coins that I've or friends have posted here. These are not formal results that I've tallied up or anything, just stuff that I've kept in my head.
On "guess the grade" threads, I've found that about 50-60% of people respond with the correct grade plus or minus one (Ex. If a coin is AU55, they'll say AU55, AU53, or AU58).
On threads relating to whether or not a coin is counterfeit (excluding the obvious chinese fakes), people are correct about 60% of the time.
On threads that show a coin and ask for reactions, I've found that people only answer correctly about 20% of the time. People seem to jump the gun on "whizzed" or "counterfeit"--and some people seem always fixated that, unless a coin is black as night, it has been cleaned.
Regarding AT and NT, I have no idea. I've never created such a thread.
Not looking for a fight, this is just what I've found.
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Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
Great post. Grading coins accurately in person is a challenge most of us would fail at a decent rate.
Now, add the challenge of understanding the pitfalls of coin imaging before we make our grades
public forum
lots of good feedback...its all good
JMHO
As for the accuracy, it doesn't take long to know who among us is the real deal. I pay plenty of attention to what several members have to say. And it goes without saying that there are members that are all blow and no knowledge. Unfortunately, it takes a bit of knowledge to know who is who so when it comes to newbies looking for information it can be quite a mine field.
<< <i>good pics
public forum
lots of good feedback...its all good
JMHO >>
You learn who the good guys are which posters really know their stuff.
I definitely agree that sometimes posters love to gang up and trash a coin. It's like some kind of Simon Syndrome where they think that lableing a coin as "cleaned" and picking it apart makes them some type of expert. On the other side, there also seems to be some kind of belief that dark equals original. This isn't always the case.
Like Shylock says, we are judging images of coins, not the actual coins. There's a world of difference.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
I personally find that I am not very accurate grading series I don't collect.
Will’sProoflikes
grading is difficult enough by only viewing a picture. Throw in also the subjectiveness of grading and it's amazing we can agree at all.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
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As for cleaned, there is not always a bright line, it is a gray area. A good percentage of classic coins, have been cleaned at one time or another. A lot of these dipped/conserved/cleaned coins end up in top tier holders as "market acceptable."
If a coin is valuable and is being sold raw, there is often a reason for that. Some sellers buy problem holdered coins, crack them out and sell them raw for more money.
As with the rest of the hobby, after a while on the forum, a person learns whose opinions are worthwhile and whose opinions are chicken bleep. Even experts are limited by the medium. Photos can be deceptive. Sometimes someone posts a new purchase and they get five or six attaboys, "nice coin," and I am wondering what the heck they are looking at. It reminds me to stay humble, and perhaps, I am way off. However, there are certainly times the emperor doesn't have any clothes.
It is better to get in person opinions, where a veteran collector, or expert dealer can give a coin a proper look. Even then, no one bats a thousand. The forum is always going to have its limitations. Often times it is the photo. Other times, it is the high percentage of amateurs on the forum acting like they know something, and other amateurs telling them that they do, when they don't know much at all.
who "get it right" tend to be the same people most of the time. This doesn't
mean you can trust anyone's opinion from a photo but it seems some people
can "fill in the blanks" pretty well.
Personally I feel fairly confident in assessing cu/ ni (especially clad) from a pic-
ture but not as much with copper or silver. I won't even try gold and lack con-
fidence with it even in hand.
<< <i>how accurate of peoples assessments of coins here on the boards. >>
It depends on which forum member is making the assessment.
<<<Grading coins accurately in person is a challenge most of us would fail at a decent rate.
Now, add the challenge of understanding the pitfalls of coin imaging before we make our grades...>>>>
I could not agree more.
But the practice of "making assessments" is an important exercise in itself to help hone down our grading skills of judging photographs of coins.
<< <i>Shylock said:
<<<Grading coins accurately in person is a challenge most of us would fail at a decent rate.
Now, add the challenge of understanding the pitfalls of coin imaging before we make our grades...>>>>
I could not agree more.
But the practice of "making assessments" is an important exercise in itself to help hone down our grading skills of judging photographs of coins. >>
Very true. And even some of the stunning pictures posted here are not necessarily the best types of photos for grading coin. SOme pics show the color and luster fantastically, but fail to show how the coin really looks at arms length, in hand.
<< <i>
Very true. And even some of the stunning pictures posted here are not necessarily the best types of photos for grading coin. SOme pics show the color and luster fantastically, but fail to show how the coin really looks at arms length, in hand. >>
One of the biggest problems is the photography.
Scratches can be virtually invisible at most angles and even chatter and planchet problems show
up differently at different angles. If the photographer wants an accurate assessment then he has
to take the picture at an angle which provides the most accurate overall look of the coin.
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<< <i>How accurate are the coin assessments here on the boards? >>
I wouldn't recommend that you make buy and sell decisions based on opinions rendered here.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
(just had to be different...hehe)
Actually, I agree with multiple replies, but I think that FatMan said it the way I would have liked to do so.
<< <i>You're not suggesting that grading is subjective, are you?
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
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