Another Grade Guessing Game! - ICCS Coins

How can it make you nervous?

It's the truth.

I spent over 30 years grading diamonds.

I know how difficult it is to maintain consistency and accuracy over time.

For us to think a coin will be graded the same time after time is just pure folly.

ICCS is still the best 'system' we have in this hobby.

There will still be coins graded that will raise an eyebrow, but these are the ones that the experienced collector will spot.

Personally, I feel Brian and Scott at ICCS have done an admirable job throughout the years.

And for those collectors who spend thousands of dollars and blindly trust the Grading companies 100% for their coin purchases, I suggest you direct more of your time and finances towards education and less on 'investing'.

Brian Cornwall is only human dealing with many factors when looking at and holding a coin to grade, maybe a day will come that a coin can be machine graded getting every detail whether it is toned or fully brilliant probably some day
Bob

@Artdio - Sorry mate completely missed that!

I should clarify that quote before I cause any more fracas, Brian only said the first bit, that he can grade the same coin 3 different times on different days. This is because he his human. The coffee bit is just an anecdote I made up to express to novices how important it is to buy the coin not the holder, particularly in mintstate.

I don't even know if Brian or Scott drink coffee

As much as we like to think otherwise, no matter who you are, if you took 100 coins you had never seen before, graded them, and then graded them again a week later, they would not all be the same. Close, probably within half grades here and there, but not all the same.


As far as videos are concerned, I don't have a video camera a certainly not one that will show the same detail. I can see where it would help for overall lustre though

The only way for a coin to grade the same every time is by a mechanical process.
But then you have to price for eye appeal because the shiny white MS66 will sell long before the ugly blotchy MS66

Even purely technical grading in ms - taking out eye appeal all together. Will differ day to day. In mintstate for a purely technical grade you would be looking at every bag mark/hairline scratch and then judging the depth of each mark, without laser measurements there's nothing to keep what looks like a hairline scratch on one day at one particular angle from looking like a deep gouge at a slightly different angle..

Professional graders use the same magnifier and same lighting for every coin to increase consistency but nothing will make it 100% consistent as long as human eyes and thought process is involved.

ICCS is an opinion, I only buy coins based on my opinion because I'm not buying coins for the Cornwalls collection..

No prob cs.... as for the 1905 I will stick to MS 62 R B

EF45 cleaned

osmiumblue takes this one.

I can see from the photos where people said cleaned, but its a much better looking coin in hand.

ICCS MS63 Red


Next up we will do a 1935 Dime