Most of us can dislike a coin, but still acknowledge that it’s accurately graded.
MFeld
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Way back in the Middle Ages 
, prior to becoming a grader for NGC…
When I was a dealer and viewed coins, if I didn’t like them, I just moved on to the next one, without having to articulate why I didn’t like them or assign a grade to them. The process was quick and easy.
But when I got to NGC, I no longer had the option to just pass and move on to the next coin. I had to grade them, even if I didn’t like them. Bummer!
And I quickly learned that just because I didn’t like a coin, didn’t mean it was over-graded. That can be a difficult lesson for many numismatists.
Fast forward to post-NGC grading days…I see lots of coins that I don’t like and when assessing them for clients, I do need to explain my reasons. But I still remind myself that a coin can be accurately graded, even if something about it causes me to dislike it. It can be a mark in the wrong place, toning I don't like, muted luster on a high grade example, ho-hum eye appeal - all sorts of reasons.
Post such a coin, if you please.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Comments
This is MS 68+ from coin facts. I don’t like it, there’s caca on the eagle.
Nice as hell, give to me, I’d love to own it, but I would not pursue it near retail.
[Edit in italics]
I think if a coin can be bumped up in grade due to positive eye appeal then it can be bumped down in grade for negative eye appeal.
You mean like this one? I bought it heavily discounted for the negative eye appeal
Mr_Spud
I would buy that heavily discounted.
That depends on whether 1) you dislike it, but 2) you still think it's accurately graded.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Must have been one Mr. Feld graded while at NGC...
LOL
Yeah, that is the reverse of how I think about the dollar that I posted.
Definitely agree. I feel like I have several examples but they are escaping me at the moment
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I like all coins. Just some more than others.
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^
All coins are equal, but some coins are more equal than others.
peacockcoins
This coin is in my collection. The spot is there but up close it is toning, not some flying spittle that landed in an unfortunate location but my eyes go right to it.
And they always will..
I saw several at FUN. Two were the same AU58 PCGS grade early walker that I really needed for my set. One CAC’d, one not. Both were just too fugly, with splotchy toning, muted luster, etc. I didn’t even try to talk myself into either of them.
Another was a CACd AU55 middle date large cent. Hazy, dull surfaces with a weak strike. Original, sure. Technical 55 details, yep. Eye appeal, no bueno….
I think this one falls into your line of thinking @MFeld bought at the time to fill both a hole in the Lincoln set and for the old holder. While the grade is technically correct, the eye appeal is not there. I would not go so far as to say I dislike the coin, but I would like a less dark example someday.
The close up photo was taken by Mark Goodman and gives a good look at the hammered strike but over plays the color darkness while my slab photo gives a better in hand representation. Some may remember the auction tag on the rev of the slab.
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Yes, @coinbuf, that's the type of coin I was speaking of.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Given the way it looks now, that 1922-D cent does not have enough red to be R&B and too many spots to be an MS-64. It may have looked better when it went into that slab more than 25 years ago.
If it looked like that then, I think it was over graded. Yes, there are some old green label holder pieces that were over graded in my opinion.
If I don't like a slabbed coin, I immediately write a polite but firm letter to the TPG explaining where they went wrong and demanding a reconsideration. Even if it's not my coin! Yes, I stay busy, why do you ask.
Here's one that is the right grade, but not the most pleasing. This 1796 half dime is an Old Green Label EF-45. It's got the sharpness of something better, but the fields are too bright from a cleaning or a dip. It's not hairlined.
I have been a very lucky collector through the years. I have ended up with some great coins at fair prices. The one big exception has been the 1796 half dimes. I never had the right amount of money when a good one was available, and always seemed to buy the wrong one. I have all three of the pieces listed in the Red Book, and none of them pleases me completely.
Here are some larger pictures.
Not an attractive coin (although I bought it anyway), but accurately graded IMO.
That 92-S isn’t that bad but it’s interesting how still Liberty’s head is as she’s hypnotized by that dot.
I'm not sure why I even sent this coin in. I thought it might come back higher. I think it's accurately graded at 63, but the toning is dark and palm print is distracting.
I think it's attractive and that it looks nice for the grade.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
While this post conjures thoughts of coins with issues on the surface (toning, spotting, etc.) where the effect on grade is harder to quantity because it's a question of eye appeal and not just "this grade has X number of marks" it also brings to mind two coins I've owned.
Not terribly long ago I bought a commem in 64 that had great lustre and color, and clean surfaces even for a 65... save for that one big mark in the open field. It was graded 64, which was fair, but my eye couldn't look away from that mark no matter how much I tried. I sold the coin because I just couldn't come to really like it.
Much longer ago (pushing 20 years) I bought this Barber quarter. I think it's an easy 65 if not for the scratch on the neck. It's there, but it's old, fully toned in, and not much of a distraction. Not only is the 63 grade fair, it was great for me--it brought the coin to a price level I could afford, and because the mark doesn't stick out, the coin looks much better than a 63 when casually enjoyed. There are a lot of ways this could could have ended up with a 63 grade, but this way is about as appealing as you can get IMO. I've had the coin for a long time, and it's not going anywhere.
Yeah that's one of the most attractive Barber quarters I've ever seen.
No comment necessary but I'll leave one anyway. I can't even see the bell lines:
Tim
I'll play, LOL
What's the grade? Need that bit of info to determine if it's properly graded. AU55 would be my guess.
Have you seen the coin in hand? The FBL on a half or FB on a dime aren’t always apparent in images.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Here's a coin from my collection that's accurately graded but kind of ugly. PCGS XF40 CAC
I don't mind the look of that.
Here's an AU58 CAC that some would call ugly, yet I think the surfaces are very original looking!
Hi Mark,
Yes, I am the proud owner of this coin.
Tim
Thanks, Tim. In that case, it’s not a coin that you think is accurately graded, but which you don’’t like.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Interesting. I have never thought of it in those terms. If a coin is ugly/fugly/crusty, I guess I just don't care what grade it is, I don't want it.
Half of this one might be considered ugly... it is graded correctly as a 63.
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This 1839-D quarter eagle is graded MS-60. It's more like a Choice AU, but it is a tough coin. Heritage has an MS-62 graded one in their retail inventory, but it's got a scratch on Ms. Liberty's mouth that would bother me, and it's more than twice the price of this one.
I could post a lot of correctly graded MS coins I don't like that have been for sale. BUT, I don't want to insult the sellers/buyers.
Fair point. I was thinking in terms of coins that weren’t currently available for sale and should have mentioned that. Thank you.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
@erwindoc I know exactly what you mean and I’m reminded of the Newman 1935 S Walker. A technical gem, but a hard pass for me due to the spot (though, I may have been able to live with the fingerprint). This Coin has since been crossed into PCGS plastic.
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Interesting. To add, each person's like and dislike is different as well, as such the price a coin can get on any given day just depends on who you can get their eyeballs on it. One person may like it, another may dislike it, but if you find the one person who loves it, you can get a better price.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
I'm really uncomfortable with high grade Hawaiians that are yellow toned.
Why? A good number of them have toned that way and I don’t recall any skepticism regarding their originality.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I know. I see them all the time and with CACs. I think there was a Stacks auction 20 years ago solely devoted to them. But I don't like them - sorry. Mine is Blast White. Where is Rickco when I need him?
Mark, that's true. But an issue is a coin may have been properly graded when it was first slabbed, but standards had changed since then. Maybe when coin encapsulation started, a copper that was at least 5% RD was considered to be RB. But that hasn't been the case for quite some time. Likewise re pre 1815 copper and other coinage that has some "minor issues." Standards change, but unless a coin is sent in and encapsulated a second (or third) time, coin's hopefully don't (hopefully re not developing PVC spots, etc).
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Funny
If I turn rhumbs down on a coin I don’t have to acknowledge anything, especially that trash.
Just put zero on the estate offer Calc schedule for them? Really feel sorry for the owners.
Is this thread for humor? LMAO at those coins /question. Somebody kept them too long.
The 35-s WLH coin is such a dog that the sticker means nothing. A farce. Trying call it a C an absurdity.
If this is a show case of dog / gone bad in holder coins good job. As far grading If a house burned down would it matter what the realtor rated the house before the fire?
Sure - offer them around bourse at bluesheet see if any takers. The grade on them so what - send them to the conservation dept. These examples where have sticker an absurdity. Surely they not crud out then at sticker point in time.
If coin has gone bad in holder then it may have been properly graded at one time but now grade is effectively defunct. So if some stupido wanted argue that it’s still that grade tell him shove off go shop it around bourse.
Here's another. The Trueview accentuates the light scratches and turn the coin ugly orange. It's so ugly I haven't shown it until now, even though it graded XF45. The color is over juiced.
More like the actual coin in-hand. I just got it back from PCGS and didn't even take a look at it before stashing it in the SDB.
I'm not sure that assigned grade has all that much to with liking or disliking a coin. That 68+ 1883 would have the same turnoff factor if it was in a 64 holder. That caca spot. You can't grade the ugliness out of it.
BTW Mark, is NGC still grading to the same standards that they told you to grade to?
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Well one does not really know what the coin looked like at time of grading let alone when it got the sticker or what it exposed to ruining it. Saw an air crash video on a TWA flight. Mechs inspected and passed it before takeoff but out over the ocean front part fell off it beyond cockpit plane fell down 28,000 ft to the sea in pieces, no survivors.
Worrying about the assigned grade / sticker a futility. Perhaps a lesson on holding time, storage conditions.
Can I comment on your style, instead? You're not market grading, you're technical grading. Market grading takes into consideration eye appeal. The way the TPGs evaluate that isn't by their personal preferences but by their evaluation of the market. If they're any good, like is our gracious host, they've got their thumb on it, day-to-day. They know what their market goes for, and what it doesn't. From the PCGS lingo on market grading, it's "[a] numerical grade that matches the grade at which a particular coin generally is traded in the marketplace. The grading standard used by PCGS." That's not to say they're ignoring technical grading. In my experience, over the years, with them, when it's good toning, they'll bump the grade, and when it's not so good, they'll give it the technical without regard to the toning. That's just my experience. Reasonable minds may differ. No need for nobody to get snooty about nothing.
From the PCGS lingo on market grading, it's "[a] numerical grade that matches the grade at which a particular coin generally is traded in the marketplace. The grading standard used by PCGS."
Sounds to me like the tail thinks it's wagging the dog.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.