Private grading

[brandm24]

Good not to get into the "market grading" thing, Dale. That opens up a huge can of worms.

I always felt that the 70 point grading system was ridiculous. Way too narrow differences between a 65 and 66 for example. And that's not considering the huge jump in value from one grade to another for some coins. The whole system is contrived and confusing.

Bruce

[Prosit]

Cultivated is a very good word. The original systems was workable although arbitrary.
As it evolved it moved from collector driven to seller driven. And that is where it went wrong.
Well, that is the largest bit that went wrong. Unfortunately most collectors bought into it and contributed
so that the grading changes snowballed. Now it is hard to tell who wants to inflate the grades more, the seller or the buyer.

Anyway I tend to follow non-USA standards in my own grading and most of the time don't even grade a coin other than broadly.

Dale
PS
I still like G, VG, F, VF, EF, AU and MS as grades. Seven grades works very well for me 

Good not to get into the "market grading" thing, Dale. That opens up a huge can of worms.

I always felt that the 70 point grading system was ridiculous. Way too narrow differences between a 65 and 66 for example. And that's not considering the huge jump in value from one grade to another for some coins. The whole system is contrived and confusing.

Bruce

[brandm24]

I'm very satisfied with the old simpler categories too.

Since I collect mostly counterstamps these days, I rarely grade anything. I take note of the condition of the host coin, but the most important thing to me is the condition of the stamp itself. As long as it's clear and legible and the coin isn't badly damaged I'm good with it.

Bruce

[gpimper]

Bruce, I have to agree.  I was just curious.  Didn't cost all that much for the grading.  If I remember correctly I was about 9 years old when I bought that pretty for about $10.  I've had it for a long time :-)

[gpimper]

Dale, I agree, seven base grades are just fine.  I'm not a seller or a buyer, just a collector.

[Prosit]

I have sold coins but mostly because I had extras or I had collected coins in the past that I lost interest in and wanted to consolidate current interests.
More often than that I have traded coins around the world.

I tend to put coins for sale up for auction and make no hype about them and I usually don't mention grade but I do mention any flaws I see. Never had one returned.
Currently and Sloooooowly I have been getting rid of collector-only coins except for a few I particularly like.

With US coins I usually pay a little more attention to condition but for most of my collection I grade them like this:

1. Not good enough for me to want
2. Good enough
3. Very nice
4. Wow

 

Dale

Dale, I agree, seven base grades are just fine.  I'm not a seller or a buyer, just a collector.

[brandm24]

So that would be:

NGE /  Any steps like NGE-1 or NGE-2?
GE / That's about what I grade my counterstamps. This might unearth a conflict with General Electric though
VN / This would be the equivalent of AU, methinks.
WOW / Self explanatory

I think I'm going to adopt your grading system, Dale. We'll move ahead with this and get some of the most influential people in numismatics to endorse it. Let's see, what did I do with Dave Bower's email address?

Bruce

[gpimper]

I'm on board :-)

[Prosit]

Maybe we can copyright it and make a billion billion 

dale

[Prosit]

NGE = damaged and or below G-4 In European terms this is somewhat equivalent to Poor, some in the USA might dare to call it AG-3

GE = no damage and grade G-4 through VF-20
VN = between VF-20 and AU
Wow = AU-55-MS-927 but not MS-928 or better 

Dale

So that would be:

NGE /  Any steps like NGE-1 or NGE-2?
GE / That's about what I grade my counterstamps. This might unearth a conflict with General Electric though
VN / This would be the equivalent of AU, methinks.
WOW / Self explanatory

I think I'm going to adopt your grading system, Dale. We'll move ahead with this and get some of the most influential people in numismatics to endorse it. Let's see, what did I do with Dave Bower's email address?

Bruce

[Figleaf]

Although it is at times somewhat whimsical , this trends deals well with a systemic issue: wear is analog (in an infinite number of steps), grading is digital (in a limited number of steps). How many steps you need is a personal matter.

Until quite recently, church bells rang every 15 minutes and that was enough for most people. Wind-up watches gave time in minutes, until a hand for seconds was added, but they weren't very precise. Computer clocks align with atomic clocks. They are very precise, but who needs it? So it is with grading. Grading Greek and Roman coins is a church-bell system with 3 to 5 grades. Grading later coins is a wind-up clock system outside North America. North American grading is an atomic clock system, except that there's no atomic clock.

One of the many benefits of computers is that it is quick, easy and virtually free to make and send a picture. For me, that translates into two situations you might call "who cares" and "send me a picture, please/I'll send you a picture". For those who argue that pictures can be doctored: you mean grades are always honest? Bye bye grading.

Peter

[andyg]

Wow = AU-55-MS-927 but not MS-928 or better 

MS928 or better = SU (Simply Unbelievable) grade?