Terms That Annoy Me: BU, Gem BU, Choice BU

Any sort of BU = "I think this is hot sh!t"

but I really don't know

Because the dealers, who, most are really NOT experts at grading, cannot grade. They use the term to generate interest.

Actually bought a "Gem BU" 1909 S Lincoln Cent from an online dealer, sent it in for grading, and received an AU58 cleaned grade from the TPG. Dealer ignored emails, facebook contact, etc, etc....and finally agreed to refund the money when I contacted PNG.

After all of this, I requested PNG to standardized the "return policies" of dealers so that a coin could be graded by one of the top 3 TPG's. Why? ALL dealers stipulate a minimal day return and coin may not be removed from original packaging. Did I get a response from PNG? Nope. Doubt that I will either.

At the end of the day, it is ALL about money.

You say wiggle room I say shady. :P The worst is when they state "Choice BU, MS-65". What little trust I had before that point really goes out the window from that point on. It's a good thing I'm about as precautious as they come.

We still use the ,Good,fine,VF,EF,aUNC,UNC,ChUNC and Gem in Aus.
The 70 point system of grading is relatively new to us Aussies

The Sheldon Scale was created and used before I was born. I'm sure that explains why I expect it over the old system.

Because practically nobody outside North America has even heard of the Sheldon Scale.

Because, as captainfwiffo said, ebay penalizes you if you attempt to use it without a TPG's permission. (Of all the absurd ebay rules, this one is the absurdest.)

Because using the Sheldon Scale is not better, or worse, than using the traditional adjectives. It's just different. And last I heard, being different is still legal in most states.

Because usage of the Sheldon scale is no guarantee of grading consistency, while at the same time the numerical scale implies some sort of consistency exists when in fact it does not.

For example, I personally use the Sheldon scale in grading my collection (for about 20 years, I think I would have been the only person in Australia to use it) because I first really got serious about coin collecting when I was living in Canada for six months in 1983, just when the Sheldon Scale was introduced into the Charleton catalogue. However, My Sheldon scale is not the same as yours, though it uses almost the same symbols - it evolved in isolation for 20 years and was grafted onto the much stricter Australian grading standard. An American TPG's "AU-55" would be lucky to make "EF-40" in my scale.

Well put sap.

I may not use the Sheldon scale but I am not afraid to call a spade a spade.
The grading system I use is old school but I am more focused on the overall quality of the given coin , everything comes into it even eye appeal.
as for




That's just a rude comment, just because I choose to grade coins in my own way doesn't mean I am ignorant or stupid.
Just because you grade in one fashion and I grade in another doesn't make either of us better or worse at grading.
At the end of the day Bad coin,Good coin,Great coin is up to a personal choice.
Sorry for the rant but grading is a personal thing to me and I choose to do it differently that our esteemed colleagues in North America