| Author |
 Replies: 25 / Views: 6,046 |
|
Valued Member
Australia
64 Posts |
Hi Guys,
is there a pictorial grading chart (like the one NGC have) for Australian coins.
if not, I have been toying with the idea of making one, either web site based or as a down-loadable PDF document.
if there is one, would anyone here be interested in sharing pictures and gradings of there coins.
i would want it to be based on the Aussie grading system (not the Sheldon system) and it would be a general guide to grading the coins.
i know the KGV coins are fairly easy to grade by using the pearls etc but I think it would be good to have an example of each denomination and variety as a reference.
let me know your thoughts.
Cheers - Geoff
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
The older Renniks guides did, but not for all denominations. Not sure about the newer guides though.
I think there's a sovereign grading guide that might have some images for each grade.
|
|
Formerly nancyc
Australia
5385 Posts |
life is a mystery to be lived not a problem to be solved
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
 The images on the ANDA PDF are pretty useless. It would be great to have a guide with high quality images |
|
Valued Member
Australia
112 Posts |
Hi, I have been working on one for a while, if you want to check it out. Disclaimer: It is my interpretation of the ANDA guide, based on KGV pennies, as is aimed at providing a general starting point from where people can then expand their knowledge by further research / experience. Link follows: Visual guide: grading Australian PenniesHope you find it useful.  Note: Missing descriptions updated since this post. Edited by Tim Bowden
02/23/2013 09:27 am
|
|
Valued Member
 Australia
64 Posts |
Very Nice,
they are are some good pics Tim. again, all the grading seems to be on the KGV pennies which have distinct high wear points so are a lot easier for a novice like me to grade.
i like how the ANDA guide has side by side images at the end for a quick reference.
i think that between all of us we could put a realy good gradiing guide together and make it available to members here.
i might start looking into putting one together in the small amount of free time I have.
|
|
Valued Member
Australia
112 Posts |
Thanks Geoff, Today's mission, (weekends are for website development), is to set up a 'grading summary page' which will be the new landing page. This will have images side by side for easy comparison to each other, then link off to the individual pages for grades. It will also draw more attention to the separate grading article, which the visual guide is meant to be used with - it qualifies the visual guide so is significant. One of the luxuries of doing a guide yourself is that you can base your guide on your own perspective (of course developed from a variety of sources, experience, and input.) Grading is such a contentious issue with so many perspectives, particularly as to whether grade incorporates detractors, or whether they should be treated separately, that a guide made by a group of experienced contributors may be a difficult thing for all to reach consensus on. A group effort is certainly a good idea, though. I think this is why ANDA's guide is a bit vague with images - possibly deliberately so, due to the problems trying to reach consensus. In saying all of this, I respect the right, and in fact encourage people to determine their own position on grading / valuation. It is important to be buying or selling based on your own opinion, as you are the one who will ultimately be owning / taking responsibility for the coin, not the 'expert' at the other end of a guide or forum post. After all, if the ANDA guide was created to try to align their members a little closer to each other in their assessments to reach a little more uniformity, this shows me that even the experts have strong and varied opinions. Should you choose to go ahead, best of luck - you have my full encouragement. I think it takes some guts to publish your position on something like this, but I also think that if you are going to state grade when making something available for sale, you should qualify how you reached your position (such as publishing or referring to a guide). Enough rambling ....... Coins to look at, and web sites to work on ..... Cheers.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
750 Posts |
Tim, I really like what you are doing here. I can't wait for it to cover KGVI and QEII along with some reverses of other denominations.  A credit to you.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
The problem with doing a definitive photo slide for grading KGVI and QEII issues is that strike comes into play much more than in the KGV issues which tend to be better struck (with some years exceptions). KGVI coins with little to no hari detail can still be CH.UNC. The same can be said for QEII issues. It is simply a matter of experience.
|
|
Valued Member
Australia
112 Posts |
Thanks Unicorn - appreciate your encouragement. The KGVI and QEII become quite a bit more difficult, for exactly the reasons enworb has identified, and also given that there is so much more detail to the KGV coins that they are much easier to image and describe. I think this is why ANDA went with KGV florins - big, easy to see, with plenty of detail to work with. Demand is also fairly high for this era / denomination, which may have played a part also. Perhaps one day I'll take a shot at KGVI & QEII, but I tend to agree that it comes down to personal experience a lot more with the later dates. This is consistent with the intention of my guides - to be a launching point encouraging further investigation and touch on topics new collectors want to know about that are hard to find good info on, rather than a definitive instruction on how something should be done. I probably will tackle different denominations though at some stage (KGV era). |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
I forgot to add that I think youve done a very good on the site Tim.
|
|
Valued Member
Australia
491 Posts |
I agree that we need to know what grading is all about. It is very important for the collector, so as to buy the coin in the right price range for its grading.
But for the online seller very good images of the coin is all important and not the seller's grading, as the buyer will grade and put their own price on the coin that is for sale.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
653 Posts |
Hi Tim. I have found your high quality images of King George V Australian pennies and your detailed description of the various conditions of these coins very useful A worthy project  Squire |
|
Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
This photo scale was published several tears ago, and is still the best for Australian coins. I use this to grade my MY OWN coins and not use a TPG. In fact, I use it to grade all of my World coins as well. Would much prefer to rely on this than the Sheldon scale, which is not much used in Australia anyway. The grading of ancient coins places a lot more emphasis on other factors, rather than just wear. |
|
Valued Member
Australia
112 Posts |
Thank you all for your comments and support. I have just uploaded the new landing page, which is an index page comparing the grades side-by-side, and clearer links qualifying my assessments. new link follows: Australian PD Coin Grading GuidesIt occurs to me that I should now be looking for coins in each grade of the same date (not as easy as it sounds when trying to demonstrate a specific grade, such as VG and EF, rather than sub-grades, such as gVG or aEF, AND trying to avoid coins with detractors). Over time, as images come naturally, I'll go back and take care of this. PS - I agree, grading is important, but it's not someone else's opionion that is significant - It is your own. When I'm buying, I almost entirely make my assessment based on images, rather than a seller's description. That way I have no-one to blame but myself if the coin is not up to my expectations, (given that the coin imaged is the coin supplied ...... don't ya hate substitution .....). OK - enough of coins for today - time to take the wife out for coffee, before she starts to feel neglected. |
|
Valued Member
Australia
64 Posts |
hi Tim, Just had a look and it is great what you have done.
whats the chances of having a self grading page where you can select different items specific to your coin eg. number of pearls, mint luster etc in say a bullet button and it then spits out an approximate grading. I can possibly write a VB script to do this but I would not know how to integrate it into a website. may be a waste of time but food for thought.
|
| |
Replies: 25 / Views: 6,046 |
Posted 02/22/2013 3:50 pm
