Grading Currency
Insider2
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If a dealer told a collector that he could teach the collector how to grade currency in thirty minutes, what would you say to both of them?
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I figure I'm a perfect person for this training....since I don't have a clue about currency grading right now!
So, I'm guessing 30 minutes would be enough to point me in the right direction! Tell me what reference material is required, what concepts are important, what to look out for, give me some good examples to learn from. In 30 minutes, I'd be MUCH better prepared than I am right now....
But do I think that 30 minutes makes me "ready for the big-time"? Probably not. Printing techniques and technology have probably changed significantly over time, and I'm sure that's buried in grading somewhere. Paper quality and preparation has changed. Some notes are probably better made than others. Some imperfections are probably expected, and don't affect grade that much, while other imperfections are grade killers...all dependent on the era involved.
Can you get all of that into 30 minutes? Seems unlikely.
So, I'd view the claim about the same way I'd view the same claim about coins. 30 minutes is probably enough to give a novice a good running start. But I highly doubt it should END at that point....
"Enjoy" to the collector and "good luck" to the dealer.
I know what I am thinking!
WHAT? This really happened.
I hope it involves a flashlight.
A bit of history: In the late '70's, INSAB (first TPGS) was going to grade U.S., CSA, and Obsolete paper money (using a microscope as we did for coins). LOL...bet you all are howling at that and are very glad it never happened. Anyway, I studied awhile with long-time paper dealers, went to Memphis, and spoke with dealers about their standards and their opinion of TPG grading, etc. and learned as much as I could through study, books, and hands on examination.
Thirty minutes...:(
Read these boards.
30 minutes is twice as long as it should take. It can be done in half the time.
All the dealer needs to say is "Buy the holder".
That's what everybody does now.
Then, they send it again to double check their eyesight and to confirm that they were reading the holder correctly.
In the late 70's half an hour should have been sufficient - I could teach circulated notes in 20 minutes now, and back then there were just 2 grades for Uncirculated - regular Unc. and Gem Unc.
I think that's long enough for circulated grades. Uncirculated grades are harder than coins to distinguish. I just guess on anything above AU
Well, that's interesting. Guess I'm either a slow learner or my teachers could have been much better. Thirty minutes, wow.
Paper grading must be very easy compared to coins. With coins, most of the folks who have been collecting/dealing for decades can't.
They should be very thankful for TPGS.
The guy grading at INS back then was about blind, or graded coins in an alley. He did under-grade one once. I bought an 1885 INS PL Morgan, MS64. Cracked it and took it to a show and had it graded. PCSG MS65 DMPL.
If you send INS coins to ICG for crossover, it still causes him to lament about the old days.
INSAB went to pot in the late 1980's. Leon Hendrickson once showed me a genuine INS 1796 quarter with a very crude and ugly completely tooled face. Yikes! I could tell something was wrong with one glance as he passed it to me. PCI also went to pot in the late 1990's.
Grading is subjective, authentication is not. I could fill pages on this forum with stories about the "red Label" PCI problem coins that were cracked and straight graded by the major grading services. One company's scratch is nothing to another. One company's "cleaned" is another company's heavily buffed.
Best to learn how to detect problems on coins. Then decide if they bother you or not. I would not even consider adding 80% of the coins I see to my personal collection for one reason or another. It comes down to you see it or you don't. Then when you see it, is it serious or not. Market acceptable or not. Thankfully, there are several pairs of eyes making these determinations.
Grading ... to who's standard? Like coins, there is no generally accepted grading standard for currency.
Then add in pressing, washing, paper repair and so on.
Me too. My favorites were the PVC coins. Man I picked off some nice ones that just needed a little acetone.
Might take me 30 minutes to stop laughing...
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Thirty minutes would be enough to create an awareness that not all currency is the same....A long way from competent grading skills. Cheers, RickO
When I added currency as a product line around 1997 it was all raw. No currency TPG then currency dealers laughed how silly coin collectors about being fussy what TPG holder a coin in. Sales at shows of coins had been horrible for getting retail - l needed to branch out. I learned how to grade currency it and stayed in a budget. When eBay came out I made more money buying and selling currency than anything. If it had a nice photo it went fast this was before the big boys learned online. Once the big boys came in couple yr later things went south. One large dealer in Chicago (when I first got in the bay) was blowing out a huge collection and I won a lot of these easily bc the other bidders were too timid or did not know how to price currency (especially NBN). I made a lot of money off that stuff bc once it was gone good luck in replacing it. I buy low / sell high. I had friends who were good currency graders for advice.
Now while I have a lot of graded notes I want to srart submitting to PCGS currency - high value World notes I have and a recent acquisition of a flip I got cheap of CSA and Obsolete notes I bought from a Bullion Dealer at a show.
I am finally going to get that PCGS currency subm membership the mid one w coupons - I sold a CAC coin recently for bid plus 60 pct (I just mark them up cost plus lol).
I try to rely on the experts while trying to learn more on how to grade currency. I have had notes graded from the quality raw note sellers that come back a level above what they called it.
Flea market, most coin show and some ebay sellers usually inflate the grades. A major vitamin company owner who was bought out by a Fortune 500 company had gotten flim-flammed by such a dealer, and was just glad that I had certified currency at a show that he could trust.
With an LED light from behind the note you can detect folds and other issues. The graders once again work in near dark conditions so grade-relative issues are easier to detect than someone examining the note in a bright show bourse. The critical VF to XF grading levels require a certain expertise as do the higher grade levels. I would think the 10,000 hour rule of theory and practice applies to having a mastery of the subject area.