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Do collectors focus on different grading aspects as they gain experience?
BryceM
Posts: 11,935 ✭✭✭✭✭
I'm still pretty wet behind the ears when it comes to this hobby, but I'm trying to make a few observations as I rumble along. From my own experience and what I hear others saying, there seems to be a general progression of a person's desired qualities in a coin.
I would guess that most people start out by noticing the most obvious flaws - hits, dings, scratches, bagmarks, reed hits, or whatever you want to call them. Next, they might concentrate on full detail or strike. With a little more experience the key quality of luster becomes important. Finally, eye appeal might begin to trump the others. Somewhere along the line knowledge of wear vs. strike and luster as it pertains to die state might show up. Toning is its own story as many people start out looking for white coins and end up with a cabinet full of toners. Distinguishing problem coins from market acceptable, net graded with mild but acceptable problems, grading leniency as it pertains to scarcity, and such also needs to be picked up somewhere.
Newbies seem to place excessive emphasis on mark-free surfaces - at least I did. I go back and look at some of my less-enlightened early submissions and the hairlines and missing luster are rather obvious now. I'm getting just good enough to be dangerous in the AU58-MS66 range with peace dollars, but I have plenty left to learn and I drop out of my comfort zone very quickly in other series. I certainly don't feel comfortable telling genuine coins from very good fakes. How professional graders are able to manage any sort of consistency considering the vagaries and intricacies of the many series is pretty astonishing really.
I would guess that most people start out by noticing the most obvious flaws - hits, dings, scratches, bagmarks, reed hits, or whatever you want to call them. Next, they might concentrate on full detail or strike. With a little more experience the key quality of luster becomes important. Finally, eye appeal might begin to trump the others. Somewhere along the line knowledge of wear vs. strike and luster as it pertains to die state might show up. Toning is its own story as many people start out looking for white coins and end up with a cabinet full of toners. Distinguishing problem coins from market acceptable, net graded with mild but acceptable problems, grading leniency as it pertains to scarcity, and such also needs to be picked up somewhere.
Newbies seem to place excessive emphasis on mark-free surfaces - at least I did. I go back and look at some of my less-enlightened early submissions and the hairlines and missing luster are rather obvious now. I'm getting just good enough to be dangerous in the AU58-MS66 range with peace dollars, but I have plenty left to learn and I drop out of my comfort zone very quickly in other series. I certainly don't feel comfortable telling genuine coins from very good fakes. How professional graders are able to manage any sort of consistency considering the vagaries and intricacies of the many series is pretty astonishing really.
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Good post
Eric
It took a few more years where I felt comfortable looking at raw coins and determining if they had been dipped or if it still had the the original mint luster. I even learned about the different Mints and how they struck their coins which helps when weak strikes might look like wear.
All in all, focusing in on on series, mine was Walkers, you learn the nuances from year to year and from mint to mint.
There were 2 categories in collecting Walkers, the short set in MS-65 and the early years with circulation wear. Sometimes it was really tough going, guessing what a raw worn Walker would grade...at least you wanted to be close so you were not over priced.
It got to where I was looking for pre-certified coins where the seller did not want a huge premium just because it was already in plastic. The grading services helped collectors in general by making it easier to put together a nice evenly graded collection.
So yeah, knowing all you need to know will have a positive outcome on you collecting abilities. There are many pitfalls out there, it is inevitable you will learn by a few mistakes, but learning as much as you can about a series before buying, certainly puts the ball on you side of the court.
Good luck...
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
Eric
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Personally, I've seen a lot of newbies who focus on fields. If the fields are clean, they feel good about the coin. Same goes for detecting whizzing and harsh cleaning-scraping. When I was a newbie, I used to look for dirt between the letters; clean fields and trapped dirt made me suspect wiping / cleaning.
As a more experienced and educated hobbyist I now look for certain details depending on the type. For example on Buffalos you look at the Indian's hair knot, and you look at the buffalo's hip bone. That's the Bill Fivaz way and it works for me. Other types have similar features. Are the bands full ... Is the hair defined or rubbed smooth ... These are really circulation points from handling wear. To determine MS grades you really gotta look under a glass. Look for any marks whatsoever, toning spots, hairlines, and then consider the luster. No luster means 64 or less. Newbies often miss luster on coins they own, but can typically spot luster a mile away on someone else's coins. What I'm saying of course is that newbies have yet to learn the dicipline of non-bias.
Amat Colligendo Focum
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Amat Colligendo Focum
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I prefer to buy TPG with CAC already but it not always. I will not buy a coin that is damaged no matter how rare. I figure that there are a lot of coins out there so I can be selective with my money.
need any lessons in semantics, I think most rational folks know what I mean) coins, as they gain experience.
As for grade, you need to adjust depending on the series. Myself, for late date walkers, I focus on higher grade MS coins. With the early
dates, I focus on XF- MS. For the Barber series, I mostly focus on VF/XF. For large cents VF-MS for the middle dates and late dates. For the early dates, I take 'em just about anyway I can get 'em - but avoid coins with extensive porosity, verdigris, etc.