@PerryHall — Well stated. — I agree with your comment.

It depends upon the quality of the images. Some are hopeless, and they can be of no use. Others are more accurate. Some must be interpreted. Overexposure is one way to hide marks and problems. I have learned that the hard way.

If you couldn’t grade from images, you could never buy anything off the Internet. You could never bid on an Internet auction. Personal examination and coin shows are the best, but unless you have a lot of time and a huge travel budget, you need to work with photos.

I've done pretty well with pictures. Good pictures of course.

@oldabeintx said:
Depends on the image, depends on the coin.

This.

I voted Yes, because depending on the image I think I can get a fairly accurate depiction of the coin. I often screen coins I might do an in hand viewing this way.

And, of course, like many of us, I also buy on-line. Certain photographers are easier to determine a coins grade and conditional issues from than others.

Certain things like mirco hairlines and miniscule rub, quality and depth of luster, reflectance of fields, third edge issues and the like are VERY difficult from images.

Also, I think it is very important to know how to grade in-hand BEFORE you can fully transfer that over to doing it from images.

my 2c ...

It depends, for sure, but gun to my head as a generalization, my answer is "yes".

A wag only. Final determination needs to be in-hand.

Three in hand graders call a raw coin MS63, MS65 and UNC Cleaned.

Three photograph graders call it MS64, MS64, and MS65.

How are we defining accurate?

Of course, good images can give you a good general idea of a grade, but hairlines, wheel marks, PL, DMPL and other attributes are much more easily determined with an in person examination of a coin. Consequently in person examination will be significantly more accurate.

Too many factors cannot be accurately discerned from a picture. There have been threads in the past which have highlighted this by slightly tilting a coin or moving the lights.

With proper quality images, I think you can be reasonably accurate on business strikes. I would have voted yes if the poll was specifically for business strikes.

I do not think you can accurately grade proofs from images.

@winesteven said:
I can’t accurately grade from images.
I can’t accurately grade with the coin in hand.
I choose to not put in the time needed to get grading skills close to those of the people at the TPG’s and CAC.

As such, I don’t buy raw coins. I buy coins graded by PCGS, and if the coin is eligible for a CAC sticker, it must have one, so I know in CAC’s opinion, the coin is solid for the whole grade number on the label, and has not undergone a surface treatment acceptable to the TPG’s but unacceptable to CAC. But oftentimes, even that is not good enough for me! I then have a person who has access to the coin in hand a series of questions. Many times THEY tell me to pass, even if they work for the auction company selling the coin! That unbiased advice is invaluable! Between that scenario, and me not liking the eye appeal, I have passed on many hundreds of coins (if not over 1,000) that are in the grade I want, graded by PCGS, with a CAC sticker, and priced fairly!

Steve

I think you can grade better than you give yourself credit for Steve. Ultimately you are still grading the coin, just with the benefit of added input from all the resources you mention.

As a first pass, yes. As many have mentioned above, there are variables pending confirmation. For example, hairlines from photos of proof coins can be hidden greatly impacting an accurate grade assessment.

@BillJones said:
How did I learn the fundamentals of grading? The book “Photograde.” That says quite a lot about the issue.

https://www.pcgs.com/photograde

I still use it as well.
Excellent free source from our hosts.

@Walkerfan said:
You can provide an approximation or an estimate, but sometimes, issues are not captured in photographs, especially on proof coinage.

I agree with you on the Proof coins. You have to see those pieces live to buy them. I had to see all of the Proofs when I was assembling the Proof sets from 1936 to 1942.

I disagree on coins in the circulated grades when the pictures are high quality. Mint State pieces are harder. I would never buy something in MS-66 to higher from photographs.

@oldabeintx said:
It also helps that circulated coins are usually a helluva lot cheaper no?

Not always. Most any example of this coin will cost you 5 figures. The better ones are 6 figures. I did buy this one live at a Summer FUN show.

@BillJones said:
How did I learn the fundamentals of grading? The book “Photograde.” That says quite a lot about the issue.

That doesn’t address current grading scales for mint state and Proof coins, when trying to grade to an accuracy of a single point (or even two points). And that’s a major portion of the grading universe.

@coinbuf said:
Anyone can grade from photos, it is practically a necessity today. That is not the question, the question is how accurate can anyone grade from photos. But there is no simple answer to that as it depends on many factors, how good of a grader is the one viewing the photos, how good are the photos, and more. And of course, grading is highly subjective to begin with; one person's AU is another's BU. Thats why guess the grade threads usually have a two point spread in the center of the curve.

Well said. I was very comfortable as a kid grading circulated coins and pretty good at judging whether a coin was an “unc” or not. Modern grading is far more difficult for me, at least among the higher uncirculated and proof coins. And, the whole details thing makes me very leery buying a raw expensive US circulated coin from an image. I am pretty comfortable choosing among graded coins with great images. For a collector, learning to grade is more learning to best recognize a properly professionally graded coin. Sort of like a multiple choice quiz vs. Jeopardy.

@FlyingAl said:

@PerryHall said:
We need a "It depends" option. You can usually get a good approximate grade from quality high-resolution pics taken under good lighting. The problem with pics is that hairlines don't always show up well.

My goal here is to get people to take a stand on the issue, I intend to integrate public opinion into the studies that I'm currently running. Those studies will show evidence one way or the other, so part of my research is whether public opinion has stopped or encouraged people to learn how to grade from images.

Most images from reputable auction houses are of very good quality. As another poster said, it really depends on the image.
I buy/bid from photos all the time, but ONLY with a return privilege. For a really expensive coin (5 figures and up), I'd
probably want to see the coin in hand. If you want to build your collection, you have to utilize images unless you can
travel extensively to shows and see them in person.