On a personal note, if there was ever the question...

leothelyon

What makes one coin better than the other in terms of grades MS65 and MS66 and MS67? Cleaner or smoother fields? Sharper strike? More luster? Beautiful toning? The list goes on but somehow when you need to differentiate between two grades, do you have preferences and can you do it consistently? Or are you totally dependent on a grading service's opinion other than authenticity?


Leo

BillJones

All of the factors you cite are involved, and even expert graders can come to different conclusions at different times. That’s why one can get a different grade on the same coin from successive submissions. For me differentiating between MS-65, 66 and 67 is a bit of an art, it’s something that can’t be done from photographs. You have to see the coin in person. When comes to lower grades, especially the circulated grades, it can be done from a well executed photograph since the determining things like luster are less critical

MidLifeCrisis

The higher the grade, the more subjective the method used to determine that grade.

This is particularly true for grades above 65. In other words, it's a guess.

Stew

Cleaner or smoother fields? Sharper strike? More luster? Beautiful toning?

All of the above in varying degrees, plus eye appeal.

do you have preferences and can you do it consistently?

Yes, every one has different preferences that is why I think grading is more art form than science
Not to say there is not a baseline of science underlying it. A certain number of nicks or bag marks. strength of strike
and such. I test myself constantly with other people that are very good at grading. And I seem to be consistent
in my grading of coins in hand. By picture due to different types of lighting,angles and photo editing software out there.
Sometimes it is difficult at best. can usually be in the ball park.

Or are you totally dependent on a grading service's opinion other than authenticity?

I personally am not dependent on third party grading services. But the consistency they have brought to the hobby
since I began collecting in the mid 70's has in my opinion greatly enhanced the hobby as a whole.
With out the third party grading system too many people would either make poor decisions or out right get ripped
when it came to a grade on any given coin they chose.
I can't imagine how many good people that our hobby has lost due to a bad decision on a coin or getting ripped
left them with a very negative feeling about coin collecting and they gave it up all together.
The third party graders allow for a degree of safety when making your coin collecting choices.
It sort of reminds me of my street racing days. We all had very fast cars and loved collecting them.
But not all of the guys I knew (And a few girls) wanted to know how to tear the engine apart.
They had mechanics for that. They just wanted to collect the cool cars and race them.
Learning to grade coins is not an easy thing to do in a short amount of time.
It takes hard work and commitment. Not all coin collectors enjoy that part of the hobby.
But they do enjoy the collecting of coins and the comradeship of forums like this one.
PCGS and others are the mechanics that help keep the race going fairly smooth.
Just My 2 Cent Piece

Terry

ricko

All the cited aspects go into a grade at the higher levels, and that is one reason people have such a hard time understanding why they got a 65 when they thought it was a 66. Coin grading is holistic - especially at the higher levels. Cheers, RickO

yellowkid

<< <i>The higher the grade, the more subjective the method used to determine that grade.

This is particularly true for grades above 65. In other words, it's a guess. >>



I buy only slabbed coins, almost exclusively from the top two TPGs. I do think though that many of the upper grades could be subject to different ....interpertations I guess is the word that best describes how I feel about it.