What If We Ignored Grading Altogether?

I follow the Australian dealers Coinworks. Most of what they post about appears to be ungraded. It's usually extremely high end and quite gorgeous as well.

https://coinworks.com.au

As long as 'free thinking' people are involved in numismatics, there will be grading--in one form or another.

There are auction houses that routinely sell raw coins. Many of these are located in Europe.
Problem is, the photos are often not of a high enough and honest quality to make an informed purchase decision. That's why I stopped buying higher value silver coins from Europe. You won't believe how many of these coins have been cleaned which the photos "miraculously" don't show.

For the same reason we use most other systems—that's the way it was done in the past, so we will keep doing it.

The 70 point scale does an okay job of imposing some order on a subjective topic. It does seem that the process of arriving at the grade is somewhat variable, even by TPG companies. There are a lot of bits and parts grafted onto the system. If I had one complaint overall, it's that in the process of reducing the knowledge into a single point of information, that knowledge isn't effectively transferred, including the subjective parts.

Like all systems, anyone who wants to replace it has to propose a superior one. A better question would be, what do you want from grading that it doesn't already supply?

Another real problem with ungraded coins is that its just too easy to photoshop out minor defects, enhance lighting and even coloration digitally, that anyone with basic photoshop skills can deliver a picture and a coin that are two different things. My own first experience with this was back in 2002, via an eBay purchase, when online selling was all a bit newer than it is today and Photoshop skills were less common. Purchased a nice looking, raw coin that had a huge scratch edited out of the picture. The seller took it back and insisted it was just a matter of 'not getting the picture in the right light..." but lesson learned.

@Brandmeister - I think it varies from person to person. When I first got serious about this (about 5 years ago after many years of dabbling) I was overly impressed by Sheldon numbers and PCGS holders. I always look at these things now but I spend most of my time looking at the actual coin and, to whatever extent possible from photographs or catalogues, try to grade it myself.

In my perspective, grading is inherently subjective. How many of you have sought a second opinion from a trusted friend or associate, even when you were confident in your own grading? Imagine you're at a coin show, considering a significant purchase, and a friend who works at ICCS/NGC/PCGS is right there with you. Wouldn't you naturally ask for their opinion on the coin? I certainly would.

Now, let's take the scenario online. If that same friend had examined the coin in person, under ideal conditions, wouldn't you prefer their input over relying solely on photographs?

Likewise, when it comes to population reports and "top pops," how much would it influence your judgment if your knowledgeable friend exclaimed, "It's the finest I've ever seen," or conversely, "I've come across hundreds that are in higher grades."

In the world of grading, not only do we form our own assessments, but we also become attuned to the idiosyncrasies of grading companies and those of our friends. This helps us gauge how our personal opinions align or deviate from the established grading standards and the reliability of our friends' assessments.

@coinfrog - I think you're likely right most of the time. I sold some material through one of the Canadian auction houses recently (first time doing so) and asked the guy whether he thought grading made a difference. His words "almost everyone buys the holder".