gradeflation VG 08 to XF 45
privaterarecoincollector
Posts: 629 ✭✭✭✭✭
This is some gradeflation from VG 08 to XF 45 in 70 years:
I still think the Chain Cents are the most wrong graded coins by all TPG.
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The full grade now is NGC XF45 BN CAC
That coin has good color and great surfaces. That is very hard to find in a Chain Cent these days, especially for an AMERI. While my grade for this piece would be VF-30, I understand what the market is. It does not matter what grading number they put on it, this coin will be expensive.
As for the VG grade 70 years ago, that's kind of silly. I think that Dr. Sheldon would graded it higher than that back then. He would have probably been in the Fine-15 to VF-20 range. Some old time dealers used the marketing strategy, "under grade, over price." In the end to a dealer, the grade is not as important as the price they get for the item.
VF25 to XF45.
A coin such as that transcends grade... It is a very nice old copper and it will command a significant price. Cheers, RickO
Funny thing is the first coin that came to mind before opening the thread was "chain cent."
Who typed up that envelope? Was it an earlier appraisal with super strict grading (and very favorable prices) for the purpose of low-balling the value in the chance that in the future the appraiser could buy the collection cheap?
No pics but I bought a raw AG 1799 large cent in 2006 from Mike Ringo, I sold it 2009 or so to another EAC dealer and it was slabbed as a VG. Wherever it is, it's still an AG, and that's gradeflation...this was just a change in very old standards.
That coin is not XF and will never be an XF. IMO, the only reasons it was graded that way is to reflect its value and the graders were convinced most of the design detail was never on the coin! Nevertheless, the slab label and coin market say it is.
So I'm both stupid and ignorant...because the coin is an XF.
IMO, this coin was graded correctly seventy years ago. Forty years ago it would have been graded Fine + to low VF. That was before "gradeflation" existed. More recently, I can see solid VF. IMO again, what is confusing to modern graders is the fact that we start with a low-grade coin that was probably slightly weak on the head! You can see its predominant color - light brown. Then we add more circulation - darker brown on the head. The graders' think the light brown surface is a naturally toned high-grade surface and there is some obvious wear taking it to XF. That plus the coin's value and eye appeal.
If you have never seen an AU/Unc chain cent with blazing mint lustrous surfaces (How many actually exist? How many are all greased-up?), this coin looks high-grade.
Since I have never held a chain cent with any original mint luster remaining, please consider this post as just a jealous old man's opinion.
The typed envelope appears to be a Burdette G Johnson for a coin acquired by Eric Newman from the Green Estate. The coins were evaluated by F.C.C. Boyd and he evidently put extremely favorable prices on coins in hopes of being able to buy from the Estate. (See the Newman biography for more information.)
in this case, it seems appropriate to grade the coin accordingly, as you describe.
Red ink in typewriter, I vaguely remember ribbons that had black and red options.
I'll bet 100% that Mr. Newman is extremely pleased with this grade and green sticker. I'll also bet 100% that he....
Oh, I'll also bet that the auction company is extremely pleased with the holder too.
See, everyone is happy. The owner, the grading company, the auction house and probably the buyer. What more can you ask for from a major TPGS? In a decade or two, that coin may end up in another TPGS slab graded higher. It has happened before.
...& to top it off, it got stickered. Talk about rubbing it in.
It was graded "very good, strong" which is VF, in code.
That Col Green was a sly one.
Nice chain cent!
Hard, unmolested surfaces count for a lot with these coins, so many are granular from environmental damage, and many are just weird-looking from people messing with them over the years..bad color, too glossy, etc.
Very refreshing to see an original looking coin.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
I'll bet the color is closer to the slab images and not the glamor shot. Which is still quite nice and perfectly acceptable.
Lance.
Well said Lance, agreed, in hand coin is certainly dark chocolate. When a lot more light is bounced off it as in the big pics, it still shows respectably nice brown surfaces and no evidence of tampering, at least to my eye, but apparently in hand to pro graders too.
Coin was never truly VG, even VF is too conservative all that considered.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
It is a piece I would love to own regardless of plastic or stickering determination.
I'm a buyer at the "08-30" price.