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Grading: Do you care more for Precision or Accuracy?
abcde12345
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What is more important to you. Accurately graded coins or Precision grading?
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High accuracy and high precision would be best.
BUT there is an OR in your question.
Based upon the targets shown the next best would be high accuracy/low precision due to having more “shots” in or near the bullseye.
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Sight alignment, sight picture and trigger control.
The coin is a percison object (we hope) so we need accurate grades
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/publishedset/209923
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/album/209923
Would you prefer consistant grading or accurate grading?
Neither.
Consistency should be the number 1 objective.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
LOL! Aren't they one in the same?
It depends, if I'm shooting a bench rest match, then precision rules since those matches are won by shooting the smallest groups. If I'm shooting a high power across-the-course match, then we're keeping score... accuracy and precision are important since matches are won typically by X count... :-)
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LOL, yeah, consistently overgraded. Then the submitter would be happy. Do you see what's wrong with consistent ERROR?
Unfortunately, this is not a match. This is coin grading. Accuracy first and if the grade is accurate every time it must be Precise!
I posted this with tongue firmly in cheek! We also strive for consistency on the shooting line. It's great to go out and clean the 200 yard line off-hand... much better if one can do it every time. If I submit 5 coins and they all grade the same... great. I'd like to be able to submit them again and have them consistently grade the same...
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I guess the question is is it better to submit a VF coin ten times and always get an AU 55 or to get grades all the way from F to XF.
No. Precision refers to how consistent/reproducible something is. Accuracy refers to proximity to an established standard. Precision (i.e. consistency) is more important. If you consistently over grade or under grade by a set amount, you can easily calibrate and adjust for discrepancies. If you are inconsistent and the grades are all over the place, there is no way to adjust for that. The latter creates market confusion much like what we see today.
For the reasons stated in my other post, precision/consistency is more important IMHO.
From the OP's image, coin grading is somewhere in between the top and bottom figures on the left. Lack of precision is a driver of grade inflation. The maxed out coins are permanently in their final plastic. The others may very well be resubmitted until the point of being maxed out.
To be considered the #1 grading service you have to be both. There are no other alternatives.
Two men are walking through a forest. Suddenly, they see a tiger in the distance, running towards them. They turn and start running away. But then one of them stops, takes some running shoes from his bag, and starts putting the on.
“What are you doing?” says the other man. “Do you think you will run fast than the tiger with those?”
“I don’t have to run faster than the tiger,” he says. “I just have to run faster than you.”
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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Accuracy is way more important than consistency when it comes to grading. That's the essence of what a slabbed coin should announce. IMO. Btw, we have leftovers! Gobble gobble. Peace Roy
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No brainer. Precision rules.
You can always adjust targeting once you have precision.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
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I am into accuracy. That’s why I laugh at these people who want grades like “63.6.” Grading that way consistently is impossible.
Many years ago Heritage had its own grading service. The guy who did the grading was very consistent - he consistently over graded everything relative to the current standards. He was so consistent with his over grading that he had his own consistent standard.
Grading is subjective and always will be plus a point in time.
Using the target example is not an acceptable medium when discussing grading. The target is a standard.. the shot placement, a measure of skill and equipment. In coin grading, there is no standard, so measuring results is an opinion of an opinion. Shades of gray. Cheers, RickO
I’m looking for more cowbell.
Objectivity would provide maximum consistency., which would lead to a relatively accurate assessment.
Practice makes perfect & nobody is perfect. So, practice being nobody and be perfect !
To be precise I'd like to be accurate and as precise as possible in my accuracy.
To me the word "precision" sounds like "precision grading" which was the label people used when the 70 point grading system first became the standard for the industry. To me that was more PR and reality when it was applied to 11 Mint State grades.
Accuracy to me means something that you can hang your hat upon. It means that grades apply a standard, as proved by the ANA Grading Guide, that is consistently applied.
IMO grading is overrated.
When somebody posts a raw coin for a grade opinion the grading opinions come in looking like the top left.
When somebody posts a graded coin with the grade showing asking for an opinion it's closer to the bottom left.
That's because everyone has their own personal standards, be it tighter or looser on the importance of certain subjective qualities important to them. A grading company strives to put out product like the bottom right but it will always be viewed and considered by different people to be in the range of bottom left.
Neither.
Consistency should be the number 1 objective.> @BillJones said:
and what's wrong with that?
If you, I and everyone else knows this person overgraded, then case closed,...we do our own adjusting and carry on.
This is why I said 'consistency'.
Doesn't matter if one company is spot on, another company is one grade over, or another company undergrades by two points.
If they do it all the time at a consistent pace, then we as educated collectors will adjust.
It;s when ONE company goes strict, then spot on, then easy, then strict again, that's when I start getting frustrated.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
"I only golf on days that end in 'Y'" (DE59)
If you, I and everyone else knows this person overgraded, then case closed,...we do our own adjusting and carry on.
Well nothing except that the Heritage grader was like Rodney Dangerfield; he didn't get no respect.
The Gray Sheet used to have a box on the front page where there were discount ranges for PCGS, NGC and I think it was NCI graded coins. The NCI coins usually weighed in at about 50% of bid.
Based on the comments, it appears that at least half of the posters do not understand the technical definitions of consistency and accuracy.
Edit: And I should note that it seems very obvious that consistency is more important.
@daltex said: "I guess the question is is it better to submit a VF coin ten times and always get an AU 55 or to get grades all the way from F to XF."
IMO, this is a very silly example that is not helpful at all.
Wait, you may have swerved into a perfect example of NET GRADING!! In this system, a VF coin can be graded from Fine to Extra Fine. I have actually witnessed this done using a perfect "Photograde VF Large cent" at the first Coin Grading Roundtable at Stack's in NYC while professional numismatists were discussing grading standards.
If consistently over grading coins was okay, there would be little difference in the level of respect for the top two grading companies, and the guys on the bottom. We all know that is not the case.